CHENNAI: ICC’s Cricket Committee on Monday recommended banning the use of saliva to shine the ball. The committee led by Anil Kumble, however, saw no need to prohibit the use of sweat. The recommendations will now be presented to the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee in early June for approval.
“We are living through extraordinary times and the recommendations the committee has made today are interim measures to enable us to safely resume cricket in a way that preserves the essence of our game whilst protecting everyone involved,” said Kumble after the meeting.
The Cricket Committee heard from the chair of the ICC Medical Advisory Committee Dr. Peter Harcourt regarding the elevated risk of the transmission of the virus through saliva, before unanimously agreeing to ban it.
Non-neutral umpires
Another notable point discussed in the meeting was the re-introduction of two non-neutral umpires in bilateral series. “Given the challenges of international travel, limited commercial flights, and mandatory quarantine periods, the committee recommended that local match officials be appointed in the short-term.
The appointments will continue to be made via ICC from local Elite and International Panel referees and umpires. Where there are no Elite Panel match officials in the country, the best local International Panel match officials will be appointed,” said ICC’s statement.
The panel also recommended the use of technology to support appointments of a wider pool of umpires and proposed that an additional DRS review per team per innings is introduced in each format as an interim measure.
(THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS)