Former New Zealand pacer Tim Southee has supported India pacer Mohammed Shami’s call to revoke the saliva ban on the ball in international cricket to assist bowlers in getting reverse swing from the ball. The International Cricket Council (ICC) had, in May 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic as a temporary measure, barred players from using saliva to polish the ball. In September 2022, it was permanently banned by the ICC. After India’s four-wicket win over Australia in the Champions Trophy semifinal, Shami said, “We are trying (to get reverse swing), but the usage of saliva on the ball is not allowed. We keep appealing that we should be allowed to use saliva so that we can bring reverse swing back into the game and it becomes interesting.”

Supporting Shami’s call, Southee urged the ICC to revoke the ban on using saliva to shine the ball and give some advantage to bowlers.

“That was a rule brought around Covid with the virus going around the world, but I think as a bowler, you want to have a slight advantage,” Southee said on ESPNcricinfo’s Match Day. “We see the game going the way it’s going and seeing sides score 362 and more often than not over 300 in this format. I think there needs to be something in the bowlers’ favour, and whether that’s a little bit of saliva, then yeah, I don’t see why they couldn’t afford to get that back in.”

The veteran Black Caps pacer highlighted that using saliva to shine one side of the ball and induce reverse swing is more effective in red-ball cricket than in white-ball.

“I think the ball only swings initially for a few overs (in white-ball cricket). But with the red ball, you are able to bring it back, and obviously, sweat can be limited at times in various parts of the world, whereas saliva you’re able to obviously have access to it from a number of sources and in all parts of the world,” he said.

“I think there is an advantage to having saliva on the ball, probably more so in red-ball cricket than white-ball cricket,” he added.

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