***Official*** Spot-Fixing Scandal

[Top_Cat]

Come on guys, why else would his thumb be there? It's such a telltale sign when some bloke is trying to rough up one side of the ball simply because there's no other reason to hold the ball like that (it's pretty uncomfortable). Guys who hold the ball that way are usually trying to dig the thumb in and whilst raising the seam helps quite a bit in getting swing (conventional or reverse), making one side of the ball far rougher than the other is crucial for reversing the ball.

Anyway, I'm on the side of the debate which says you should be allowed to maintain ball in any natural way you see fit so I'm largely on Shoaib's side. Don't see anything unfair in blokes roughing up one side of the ball using teeth, nails, spit, semen, whatever. Altering the condition of the ball to help you out, in my book, is very skillful bowling and I've never seen a coherent reason for why it results in an unfair advantage. That said, I'd advocate that if bowlers are allowed to do so, they fudge it and the ball stops swinging, they shouldn't be allowed to change it short of the ball smiling back at the bowler. Altering the condition of the ball is a skill, yes, but it's not and shouldn't be without risk that you're going to kill the swing you were getting to that point.

 

[Faisal1985]

The standing on ball photo looks similar to Lampard screwing Terry photo TBF.

quite deceptive isn't it.

 

[Jono]

Come on guys, why else would his thumb be there? It's such a telltale sign when some bloke is trying to rough up one side of the ball simply because there's no other reason to hold the ball like that (it's pretty uncomfortable). Guys who hold the ball that way are usually trying to dig the thumb in and whilst raising the seam helps quite a bit in getting swing (conventional or reverse), making one side of the ball far rougher than the other is crucial for reversing the ball.

Yeah, baffling how anyone could not think it'd be helpful IF that is what Shoaib is doing.

 

[Smudge]

Pakistan have been suspected of playing with the ball for years. I remember a few years back the touring NZ side got their hands on a ball used by the quicks before the ball boys got their hands on it and allegedly there were scratches and marks which, allegedly, could be replicated with a bottlecap.

Then the NZ team copied and Pringle got all that swing. Then they admitted it and got away scott free.

Ridiculous chain of events really, and the ICC did nothing about either side.

You remember? Were you even born when that tour was underway in the 1990/91 season?

 

[Athlai]

You remember? Were you even born when that tour was underway in the 1990/91 season?

I think he was 1.

 

[Flem274*]

phlegm haz long memory.

But fine, I read/heard

 

[Hurricane]

phlegm haz long memory.

But fine, I read/heard

I followed that series on the radio. Flem's story is accurate. The NZ players blatantly admitted to taking a bottle cap on the field. Pringle practised in the nets to learn how to control the ball because it was quite difficult to get it right. The umpires inspected the ball and commented that "now it is fair for both teams".

If the Pakistanis were using a bottle cap then martin crowe is a genius because he still scored runs that tour while the other nz players were less successful.

Edit - I missed the part where Flem said he "remembers" LOL

 

[G.I.Joe]

Come on guys, why else would his thumb be there? It's such a telltale sign when some bloke is trying to rough up one side of the ball simply because there's no other reason to hold the ball like that (it's pretty uncomfortable). Guys who hold the ball that way are usually trying to dig the thumb in and whilst raising the seam helps quite a bit in getting swing (conventional or reverse), making one side of the ball far rougher than the other is crucial for reversing the ball..

Except that a couple of scratches on the side with the fingernail aren't going to achieve the kind of overall roughness you need to reverse it. Which is the point you guys are missing.

 

[Son Of Coco]

What's the issue with asking Tendulkar what he drives? I'm obviously missing something.

I doubt he said it to Tendulkar to be honest. Can't see the worth in sledging someone with a line like that when I'd imagine Tendulkar makes more from the game than Prior (and is at least 10 times the player).

The way the line is phrased though I think you'd have to be deliberately missing the intent of the remark. It's pretty obvious if someone makes a crack like this on the field their intention isn't just to simply ask what car the other player is driving these days.

Prior explained himself in the article and it doesn't sound that dissimilar to what Gilchrist and Symonds (I think!?) were doing a few years back with product placements in their on-field chat. Not a big deal.

 

[Son Of Coco]

lol at hitting with batting pads. What a couple of bitches. Shoulda hit him with his handbag instead.

The post you quoted didn't say 'batting pads', just 'pads'. Could well have been their sanitary napkins...I'd be outraged too if this was the case to be honest.

 

[silentstriker]

Matt Prior: 'I wasn't sledging Tendulkar, I was trying to get a car' - Cricket, Sport - The Independent

Tendulkar is a big boy, it seems hardly bad. Throwing jelly beans on the pitch could be considered tampering (what if a ball hits it and changes trajectory?) but asking for a car is simply a prudent financial plan. You never know if he's in a good mood.

 

[Themer]

Except that a couple of scratches on the side with the fingernail aren't going to achieve the kind of overall roughness you need to reverse it. Which is the point you guys are missing.

A couple of scratches combined with the repeated throwing in of the ball on the bounce and the ball being scuffed by being stood on will assist reverse swing.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Presumably the match balls Pakistan used are around somewhere. There were remarks several times on TMS about how they looked like the dog had been playing with it.

 

[marc71178]

A couple of scratches combined with the repeated throwing in of the ball on the bounce and the ball being scuffed by being stood on will assist reverse swing.

They must have some skill to be able to throw it in on the bounce and hit the same side every time!

 

[Themer]

There's obviously some luck involved when you throw it in on the bounce but they were warned by the umpires quite a few times during the series about their throws bouncing.

 

[Son Of Coco]

The standing on ball photo looks similar to Lampard screwing Terry photo TBF.

Looks like Lampard's swinging it reverse here.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Presumably the match balls Pakistan used are around somewhere. There were remarks several times on TMS about how they looked like the dog had been playing with it.

That'd be a start tbh. If the umpires or officials are of the opinion that the ball looks tampered with, that would carry a lot of weight.

 

[Scaly piscine]

That'd be a start tbh. If the umpires or officials are of the opinion that the ball looks tampered with, that would carry a lot of weight.

Well that's assuming there isn't a whitewash like last time.

I don't know why the authorities seem to turn a blind eye to ball tampering. It's cheating. Simple.

 

[Faisal1985]

Not cheating imo. Law is unfair and against bowlers. should be changed. Bowlers should be allowed to rough up one side with specific methods. I.e. using finger nails...

 

[shankar]

Except that a couple of scratches on the side with the fingernail aren't going to achieve the kind of overall roughness you need to reverse it. Which is the point you guys are missing.

If you can manage to peel off a bit of the surface layer and create a small indentation, that would definitely aid reverse swing. Reverse swing seems to be due to the layer of air closest to the surface of the ball (known as the boundary layer) becoming turbulent and even small indentations on the surface would aid this process. For example the indentations on a golf ball are present precisely for this purpose.