Sachin Tendulkar And Brett Lee Discuss Measures For Safe Conduct Of Cricket Post-COVID-19 Era

Former Indian and Australian icon cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Brett Lee have come up with a variety of measures for the safe conduct of cricket for the post-COVID-19 era. Many experts have weighed on the implications of the ban of saliva when cricket resumes. Managing of the ball to keep the game in balance would be one of the things most in focus when the sport returns.

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The ICC Cricket Committee, led by Anil Kumble recommended the ban of saliva in the wake of the COVID-19 health crisis that has ravaged the entire world. The prohibition came along to protect the players since saliva or spit when coming in contact with the ball can be highly contagious.

While the apex body of cricket has still permitted sweat to be used, Brett Lee feels that during cold, when players wouldn’t sweat much, bowlers wouldn’t be able to shine the ball. In that scenario, the situation and subsequently, the match would favour the batsmen. The 47-year old Sachin Tendulkar suggested in response that a certain amount of wax per innings be allotted to teams.

“I think the ICC needs to look into that. They can assist the bowlers by giving them something they can apply to shine the ball, something which everyone agrees upon. I am not talking about a green track where a team gets bowled out for 130 odd runs, but you need something for the fast bowlers. If you don’t sweat, how do you shine the ball in absence of saliva. I don’t think its fair for the bowlers and it’s a disadvantage for them.” Lee said as quoted by India Today.

“Allocate a certain amount of wax per inning to be used by a team says X grams.” Tendulkar opined.

Test the players say two hours prior to the game and then move with the usual things: Brett Lee

On the other hand, Brett Lee has suggested that players must go through testing two hours before the start of the match and move to the usual routine. Furthermore, Lee asked that if players can be kept in a bio-secure environment where they have no chance of contracting the virus, then why the usual rules can be gone ahead with? The England Cricket Board (ECB) has arranged to conduct the Test series against the West Indies in a bio-secure atmosphere only, starting from the 8th of July.

“Test the players say two hours prior to the game and then move with the usual things. If players are kept in a bubble, in a bio-secure environment where there are no chances of getting infected, why not go with the usual rules instead of coming with new rules?” the 43-year-old added.

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