International Cricket Council bans use of saliva to polish ball

In this Nov. 16, 2019, file photo, India's captain Virat Kohli shines the ball during their cricket test match against Bangladesh in Indore, India

The ICC permanently banned the use of saliva to polish the ball in international cricket yesterday as it made a host of changes to playing conditions.

It's been more than two years since the International Cricket Council banned the use of saliva as a Covid-19 related temporary measure but the game's governing body now says, "it is considered appropriate for the ban to be made permanent."

The ICC's men's cricket committee had recommended changing several playing conditions and they have now been ratified by the chief executive committee.

"I was pleased with the productive contribution of the committee members which resulted in key recommendations being made," cricket committee chairman Sourav Ganguly said in a statement. "I thank all members for their valuable input and suggestions."

The changes will come into effect from October 1.

Among the other alterations is when a batter is out caught, the new batter will come in at the striker's end, regardless of whether the pair crossed in the middle of the wicket.

A new batter should also be ready to take strike within two minutes in test matches and one-day internationals, although the current threshold of 90 seconds in Twenty20s remains unchanged.

The umpire can award five penalty runs to the batting side if he sees any unfair movement while the bowler is running in to bowl. In addition, the umpire will call it a dead ball.

The ICC has also clamped down on slow over-rates in ODIs, just like it does in T20s.

At present when a team fails to bowl its quota of overs within the stipulated time in T20s, it has to bring an additional player inside the 30-yard circle. [AP]