Everything That You Wanted To Know About Ball Tempering

The players keep one side of the ball shiny and smooth while the other side is made to go through wear and tear so that it’s scuffed up and loses weight...

- Ajay Tiwari

The cricket world is still reeling from the biggest controversy in cricket this decade, which saw three Australian players admitting to ball tampering using sandpaper in the 3rd Test against South Africa in Cape Town. The incident has continued to make headlines with the trio being banned from playing any sort of competitive cricket for months to come. The issue has raised a number of questions regarding what exactly is ball tampering and why do players go to such an extent to tamper the ball whereby they are ready to even risk their careers.

WHAT IS IT?

In its true sense, ball tampering is an action in which a player illegally tries to alter the condition of the ball. The primary motivation behind it is to interfere with the aerodynamics of the ball to aid reverse-swing.

Under Law 41, subsection 3 of the Laws of Cricket, “the ball may be polished without the use of an artificial substance, may be dried with a towel if it is wet, and have mud removed from it under supervision”. All other actions, which alter the condition of the ball are illegal and are referred to as ball tampering. These are usually taken to include rubbing the ball on the ground, scuffing with a fingernail or other sharp object, or tampering with the seam of the ball.

WHY DO THEY DO IT?