“I don’t think we’d be playing in the first place”: When Pat Cummins opposed ICC’s saliva ban to shine the ball due to COVID-19

A lot of things changed in cricket after the novel COVID-19 pandemic, and the ban on saliva to shine a ball was one of them. To prevent the spread of the virus, ICC (International Cricket Council) had decided to ban the use of saliva or any other substance on the ball. However, shining the ball is very important, especially in the red-ball format to maintain it’s shine.

Australian captain Pat Cummins was also against the decision made by ICC in 2020. Being a pacer, reverse-swing is quite important, and not being able to shine the ball would have resulted in a massive disadvantage for Cummins and all other fast bowlers. Cummins had supported his statement by stating that this change will be unacceptable as it will tilt the game towards the batters.

In a video blog for his Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders back then, Cummins had mentioned how swing bowling will be heavily affected by the implementation of this rule.

“If you can’t shine the ball, that takes away swing bowling, that takes away reverse swing bowling,” Cummins had said.

When Pat Cummins opposed ICC’s saliva ban to shine the ball

Cummins further said that cricket should not be played if there is so much risk of spreading the virus. He said that shining the ball is an important part of cricket, and it should not be banned permanently.

“I’m thinking that if we’re in a position where we’re really worried about passing on the coronavirus. If we’re going to be that careful that we can’t shine the ball, we can’t get close [to teammates], we can’t play the game as we normally would be, I don’t think we’d be playing in the first place,” Cummins had added.

According to the latest ICC rules, ban on the saliva has been named permanent, but the players can use sweat in order to shine the ball.

David Warner supported Pat Cummins’ claims

Despite being a batter, Australia’s David Warner had also supported Cummins’ claims by saying that the players are sharing the change rooms, so there is no need to bring such a law into the game. He had insisted that the virus can be transmitted through other forms as well, and it is an unnecessary step.

“You’re sharing change rooms and you’re sharing everything else, I don’t see why you have to change that,” Warner had told cricket.com.au.

“It’s been going around for hundreds of years now, I can’t recall anyone that’s got sick by doing that.”