Monty Panesar Reveals England's Ball-Tampering Strategies
Published - 25 May 2019, 01:38 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:00 AM
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Former England spinner Monty Panesar has shed light on how he tried to alter the condition of the ball during his playing days. Panesar revealed that the England seamers had different demands on how they can keep the ball dry. A particular player is generally given the responsibility to take care of the ball and the onus was on Monty Panesar.
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The reverse swing plays a key role in the game and it can be achieved if one side of the ball is kept shiny and the other side should be rough. Hence it is crucial for the players to not get their sweaty hands on the ball.
Monty Panesar comes up with interesting tactics.
Monty Panesar wrote for Daily Mail, “When I came into the England side, my job was to prepare the ball for the seamers”.
They’d say, ‘Listen, mate, if you want to bowl with us it’s on one condition. Make sure you don’t get your sweaty hands on our shiny side.’
James Anderson who is well known to swing the ball both ways had ordered Panesar to keep the ball as dry as possible.
Opening bowler Jimmy Anderson would say: ‘I just want you to keep that ball as dry as possible.’
Panesar also revealed that he also tried to tamper the ball with the help of the zip of the trouser. The former off-spinner stated that the mints and sun cream also had an effect on their saliva which helped them get reverse swing.
“Whether we broke the laws depends on how you interpret them. We found that mints and sun cream had an effect on the saliva, and that helped the ball to reverse. I might also have ‘accidentally’ caught the ball on the zip of my trouser pocket to rough it up a little”.
Monty Panesar played 50 Test matches for the England team in which the off-spinner scalped 167 at an average of 34.71.
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In fact, there are different tactics which are employed by the players when they try to tamper the ball. Last year, Cameron Bancroft used Sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball. Bancroft was banned for nine months whereas Steven Smith and David Warner were handed a year-long ban.
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