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Ball Tampering General Discussion

Daemon

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I'd allow for mints, gum, sugary drinks, wrist bands, caps, shoe laces/spikes, fingernails,and even watches and sun glasses if they want to get really creative.
What if your watch has sandpaper on it
 

TheJediBrah

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What if you have a horrible skin condition that makes your skin bumpy and **** like sandpaper? You also get leaky pus all over the ball that helps it swing. Technically a natural substance.

Fast forward 5 years every team will fill a spot in the side with a random dude with psoriasis
 

srbhkshk

International Captain
I don't think the "natural" defence works for the rough side, Shoe spikes , wk's helmet , pads , arm-guards , wrist-watches , practice pitches are all natural and can severely change the condition of the ball, personally I'd go with -

1. Shiny side - Allow everything.
2. Rough side - Provide the umpires with some reasonable grit sandpapers and allow the teams to use them - say once every 5 overs or so (If sandpaper is too much, then find something that is reasonable - but make it constant for the teams). Nothing else is allowed.
 
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Daemon

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Some seriously lolworthy suggestions being trotted out

Allowing the use of spikes? Giving umpires sandpaper? fmd.
 

cnerd123

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I think under the Laws at the moment, the ball is in control of the umpires - they basically deem if it's fit to use or not.

So all you need to do is to tell players that they can do whatever the **** they want to to the ball except use a foreign object. You then enable the umpires to change the ball if they feel it's been too severely tampered with.

Basically take this issue out of the hand of administrators and leave it in the hands of the Umpires and Match Referee. They will oversee the condition of the ball, and they will #DrawTheLine one what they feel is an acceptable degree of damage. If the officials for one particular game have strict controls on tampering, then so be it, thats the standard that will apply to both sides for the duration of the whole game. If the officials are lenient, then both sides benefit.

Trying to set arbitrary standards from the outside for all players and match officials to follow never works. Umpires can be given guidelines to follow, but hardline stances in a sport as vague as cricket always fail. Just let the players do whatever they want within reason - 'reason' being determined by the match officials in charge of the game.
 

MagicPoopShovel

U19 12th Man
How often do you reckon the umpire check the ball? In general play it seems like they get it whenever a wicket falls or something is wrong with it. Maybe they just need to eye ball it every 2-5 overs or something and if they see something really different then pull up the players..

I think the definition foreign objects are what ***** has described.
 

cnerd123

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Yea the umpire gets the ball anyways after every wicket and at the every break in play.

On top of that, they can basically ask to check it whenever they want.

The second a quickie bowls a big hooping swinger in the 40th over, they can ask for the ball and inspect it. Should be no issues with that. If it's way too damaged (by their estimations), they can call for a spare ball.

This way sides can do whatever they want to the ball, but are kept in some sort of check by the umpires.
 

stephen

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
In baseball any damage to a ball, including it hitting the ground, results in the ball being changed. But they have a huge, prominent, wobbly seam to generate swing and dip with.
 

cnerd123

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Also baseball is for pussies

In a real man's sport you gotta let them play with the ball. Apply bodily fluids, rough it up, give it a good rubbing on the trousers. That's how men play.
 

StephenZA

Hall of Fame Member
I think under the Laws at the moment, the ball is in control of the umpires - they basically deem if it's fit to use or not.

So all you need to do is to tell players that they can do whatever the **** they want to to the ball except use a foreign object. You then enable the umpires to change the ball if they feel it's been too severely tampered with.

Basically take this issue out of the hand of administrators and leave it in the hands of the Umpires and Match Referee. They will oversee the condition of the ball, and they will #DrawTheLine one what they feel is an acceptable degree of damage. If the officials for one particular game have strict controls on tampering, then so be it, thats the standard that will apply to both sides for the duration of the whole game. If the officials are lenient, then both sides benefit.

Trying to set arbitrary standards from the outside for all players and match officials to follow never works. Umpires can be given guidelines to follow, but hardline stances in a sport as vague as cricket always fail. Just let the players do whatever they want within reason - 'reason' being determined by the match officials in charge of the game.
But basically is this not how the rules have always been.... it is only because of the cameras that all this other stuff has really become a problem, now that the public can see what goes on on the field. Outrageous!
 

Second Spitter

State Vice-Captain
Also baseball is for pussies

In a real man's sport you gotta let them play with the ball. Apply bodily fluids, rough it up, give it a good rubbing on the trousers. That's how men play.
Ball tampering in baseball is at an Advanced Post-Doctoral level compared to cricket. Substances like pine tar, vaseline, and eyeblack have yet to be used on the cricket field. Often hidden in plain sight.....

The difference is that it is essentially good for one or two pitches at the most before they are swapped. There about 70 baseballs used per game.
 
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cnerd123

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But basically is this not how the rules have always been.... it is only because of the cameras that all this other stuff has really become a problem, now that the public can see what goes on on the field. Outrageous!
I think so, but tampering the ball is still illegal under the laws, so you still have to hide it from the umpires (and apparently the Camera Crews too now). If you get caught even using something like vaseline, or picking the seam with your fingernail, there has to be a penalty.

Legalise tampering with non-foreign objects on the field so that sides don't need to hide it, and save the penalties only for when they try to bring an object onto the ground to tamper with. No penalty if the umpire swaps the ball out, losing a ball you've worked so hard on and having to start over from scratch is penalty enough.
 

Flem274*

123/5
also is nailing the ball out of shape then having a wahh to the umpires every over until you get it changed as unethical as tampering? because one team with a pair of swing bowlers seems very adept at getting the ball changed every ten seconds compared to all others.

this could just be me tending to see more cricket in nz and oz and oz don't really moan about the ball though.
 

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