Brad Hogg tweets in favour of using saliva to shine the ball
Former Australia bowler Brad Hogg tweeted in favour of the use of saliva on the cricket ball earlier today. Brad Hogg was asked by a Twitter user about his opinion on the use of saliva in the sport.
“Should be still allowed. Opening the door for controversies with foreign material to be allowed to polish the ball. #askhoggy,” Brad Hogg tweeted.
It has been common practice over the years for cricketers to apply saliva on one side of the ball in order to shine it and generate more swing. While it does give fast bowlers an advantage, the use of saliva to shine the ball has been discussed in detail in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Brad Hogg believes banning saliva could open the door to other foreign material being used
A lot of people have called for the use of saliva on the cricket ball to be banned. However, Brad Hogg tweeted in favour of it, citing that it could open the door to more controversies since players could turn to other foreign material to polish the ball.
Earlier this week, the Vincy Premier League (VPL), a franchise-based T10 tournament in the Caribbean, became the first league to ban the use of spit on the cricket ball. The competition is set to begin on May 22, signalling the return of competitive cricket to an ICC member nation.
Australia, earlier this month, restricted the use of saliva on a cricket ball in order to counter the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic that has brought the entire sporting world to a halt.
Brad Hogg’s tweet may irk quite a few fans considering the situation the cricketing world finds itself in today. The coronavirus pandemic has seen all cricketing action suspended indefinitely.
There is currently a lot of uncertainty surrounding several major tournaments and bilateral series that were scheduled to take place this year. Competitions like the T20 World Cup and the Indian Premier League (IPL) were scheduled to happen before the pandemic struck.
Ideally, we would have been nearing the end of the league stage of the IPL sometime this week, but that was unfortunately not meant to be.