Achieving reverse swing requires natural wear on one side of an ageing ball while keeping the opposing side polished. However, environmental factors such as lush outfields combine with the COVID-era saliva ban to prevent bowlers from legally preparing the leather. Furthermore, Test matches are increasingly concluding inside three days, which TA Sekar notes prevents balls from accumulating enough overs to reverse. In response, modern seamers are embracing alternative grips that remove the need for prolonged ball maintenance.
Key points
Natural ball degradation has diminished significantly due to softer outfields, helpful pi…: Natural ball degradation has diminished significantly due to softer outfields, helpful pitches, and the formal ban on applying saliva.
Shorter Test matches that finish within three days deprive teams of the overs required to…: Shorter Test matches that finish within three days deprive teams of the overs required to scuff the ball naturally.
Tactical adaptations toward wobble-seam bowling allow seamers to attack effectively witho…: Tactical adaptations toward wobble-seam bowling allow seamers to attack effectively without undergoing intense scrutiny over ball condition.
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NEW DELHI, Nov 13 : The art of reverse swing is fading from test cricket, but fast bowlers and coaches say fear of punishment after the 2018 'Sandpapergate' scandal explains only part of the decline.
The affair, which cost Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft lengthy bans and heavy fines, cast its shadow over Australia again this week when Usman Khawaja revisited it in his autobiography.
Reverse swing occurs when an ageing ball, rubbed glossy on one side and roughed up on the other, bends late in its flight towards the polished face. It is the opposite of conventional swing. Producing it takes pace, ideally above 135kph, along with a strong wrist and a stable seam.
Pakistan's Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were its undisputed masters, wielding it to devastating effect in the heat and dust of the subcontinent during the final decades of the 20th century.
Former Australia coach Justin Langer recently argued that 'Sandpapergate' had all but killed the craft by frightening players away from "preparing" the ball.
"I don't agree with that," former India player TA…
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