Ear Wax - Legal Or Illegal?

[Rob K]

Sorry to be a bit.. basic, but this is a serious point.
I have played a bit of village cricket in my time, and seen the rejuvenating effect that a regular application of earwax ('EW' for the faint-hearted) can have on leather. It's almost miraculous. Someone should market it as an expensive dressing for Audrey Hepburn's kid evening gloves..
Anyway.
Scarifying the unpolished side of a ball with earth from your pocket is famously considered 'tampering'. So polishing the shiny side with 'EW' should also be illegal.
But then, it is a natural product, like spit, which is routinely used in at Test level. And cricket is nothing if not a game of natural products - willow, leather, ash, flannel, cork, grass, chalk - it's practically an eco-system unto itself.
Any thoughts?

 

[Waughney]

Interesting, never used wax before myself. If it has such a huge effect then officials may have to consider banning. I haven't seen any international players do it though......

 

[luckyeddie]

Splendid first post, Rob - a man after my own heart

(unless you plan to take it out of my body, take the resultant blood, spin it in a centrifuge, extract the white corpuscles and use them in order to weight one side of the ball in order to aid reverse-swing - that could be legal too).

The mind boggles where it could all end - maybe umpires could order bowlers found guilty of 'picking the seam' to conduct repairs on the stitching using their own sinews as a thread...

excuse me. I feel a horror story coming on.

 

[lord_of_darkness]

Lmao eddy man.. you dont have to say such stuff just before im about to go to bed :P

Good post Rob, and im even more stupid to realize what you said , so im going to make sure i use it in the new season which starts shortly :P , it sounds legal to me when im on the fielding side , because it is natural and its just like using the spit i guess..

 

[luckyeddie]

...and its just like using the spit i guess..

Ohhhhhh, spit

 

[Loony BoB]

xD @ eddie.

I don't see why it should be banned - where would you draw the line with regards to someone picking at their ear? Would they have to ensure they don't catch the ball with the hand they picked at their ear with if it was banned? Would they have to use those little cotton-bud-ended things to get wax out of their ears so their fingers stay wax-free? It's something that wouldn't be worth the trouble to ban, in my opinion.

 

[Langeveldt]

I dooont know, but that is the best first post... Would be a shame if he left on a high! Cooom back laddy, youve got sum degeneration to do yet!

 

[steds]

hmmm...earwax...never tried that before.
*nearly chokes in the thought of holding a ball with someone elses earwax on-eeeeeeeeeuuuuuuuuurrggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh*

 

[SpaceMonkey]

you must go see a doctor tho if you have enough ear wax to work on a normal sized cricket ball mind!...unless you collected it over time and went out with it in your pocket!

 

[luckyeddie]

you must go see a doctor tho if you have enough ear wax to work on a normal sized cricket ball mind!...unless you collected it over time and went out with it in your pocket!

The only type of person who did that sort of thing would have a great career in front of them as a TV chef...

"Here's one I prepared earlier..."

 

[Richard]

you must go see a doctor tho if you have enough ear wax to work on a normal sized cricket ball mind!...unless you collected it over time and went out with it in your pocket!

My thoughts exactly.
Though there are ways to make your ears produce more than normal.
The old sweat\spit-and-rub technique will have to do for most of us, though.

 

[sledger]

Legal.

 

[Agent TBY]

Legal.

DWTA. I'd stop my own team-mates from using it, tbh. Who'd want to touch something like that?

 

[sledger]

Andmark.

 

[cover drive man]

Andmark.

 

[Jakester1288]

Legal.

You dug a four year old thread to say that? In the forum rules it says if you wish to dig a thread, it must add to the discussion/topic. I don't see how that did at all.

Still, I have never heard of this before. It seems odd, and I definately won't be using it. Maybe trial it on one of my balls in the nets first, and see how it works. If I get a bit more swing then usual, I may try it in a club game. However I don't think my team-mated will appreiciate me putting my ear wax all over one side of the ball though.

 

[sledger]

You dug a four year old thread to say that? In the forum rules it says if you wish to dig a thread, it must add to the discussion/topic. I don't see how that did at all.

It's ok, the mods wouldn't dare touch me.

 

[vic_orthdox]

sledger = kryptonite. It's true.

 

[sledger]

Jack > Ear Wax

 

[vic_orthdox]

Greater than or equal to, one feels.