Forget About Reverse Swing Without Use Of Saliva, Says Irfan Pathan After James Anderson's Struggle

Former India fast-bowlers Ashish Nehra and Irfan Pathan believe bowlers will find it tough to get reverse swing without the saliva. Their comments have come in the wake of James Anderson’s struggle during the first Test between England and West Indies in Southampton.

The game marked the returned of international cricket after action around the world was halted in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. And while the Test match lived up to the expectations, Anderson’s struggles made it clear that the bowlers are going to struggle with the new set of rules.

The ICC has banned the use of saliva on the ball in order to keep the players safe from virus transmission. Anderson looked like a pale shadow of his usual self on day five of the game as he failed to pick up a single wicket. The like of Jason Holder, Shannon Gabriel and other pacers made their mark with the ball but Anderson struggled to get his usual swing in English conditions.

Speaking about his performance, Nehra said that the England star consistently bowling short of length was an indicator that even conventional swing was bit of a problem due to lack of saliva.

“Jimmy Anderson was bowling short of length at times and he never bowls such short of length. Because the Dukes ball wasn’t swinging.

“The reason being lack of shine with no saliva being allowed and whenever he tried pitching up, the Windies batsmen were driving easily,” Nehra told PTI.

“Not being able to use saliva when there isn’t much perspiration will be a problem. Anderson’s strength is to pitch it up and get it to swing which leads to caught behind and slip catches. He looked half the bowler when it stopped swinging “ he added.

On the other hand, Pathan said that bowlers should “forget about getting reverse with the old ball”.

“Since saliva is thicker, it affects reverse swing more than conventional swing which requires sweat for shining the ball. Till the pandemic is there and the rule stays, the bowlers will have it a bit tougher than usual,” Pathan said.

When asked about the solution for the bowlers in these testing times, Pathan said that they should be allowed to use external substance. He also said that pitches conducive to seam bowling should be made to aid the bowlers.

“Simple. Allow use of external substance or else for sometime forget that reverse swing exists. Make pitches that will be conducive to seam bowling.”

“If you ask me keep a bit of moisture to make it 60/40 in favour of bowlers. If there’s moisture, the ball would grip the surface and then both sweat and saliva are out of equation.

“Aap phir seam hit karo, harkat hoti rahegi (hit the seam and ball will move around). Or else there will be dead rubbers,” Pathan explained.

West Indies, meanwhile, stunned England by four wickets in the series-opener. Chasing 200, they rode on Jermaine Blackwood’s fine 95-run knock to recover from 27 for 3 and cross the finishing line. The next two Tests will be held in Manchester.

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