Australian spin great Shane Warne has suggested using weighted balls to help pace bowlers generate swing without risking health when cricket resumes after the coronavirus shutdown.
The traditional way of shining the ball by rubbing it with sweat and saliva to generate swing is likely to be discontinued on health grounds when cricket restarts after the pandemic has subsided.
Australian cricket-ball manufacturer Kookaburra says it is developing a wax applicator to enhance the shine and aid swing but Warne offered an alternative. “Why can’t the ball be weighted on one side so it always swings? It would be like a taped tennis ball or like with the lawn bowls,” the former leg-spinner told Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.
“I’m not sure you’d want it to hoop around corners like Wasim (Akram) and Waqar (Younis) but it could swing and give the seamer something on flat wickets when it’s hot and the pitch is at its flattest on day two, day three.”
Pakistan greats Akram and Younis are considered the foremost exponents of reverse swing, which is generated by shining one side of the ball while keeping the other side rough.
A weighted ball would also pre-empt any ball-tampering, Warne said. “You wouldn’t have to worry about anyone tampering with it with bottle tops, sandpaper, or whatever. It would be a good competition between bat and ball.”
Warne, who retired in 2007 with 1,001 international wickets, said compared to the bat, the ball used in cricket has not really evolved over the years.
“If you pick up one of the bats you started with in the ‘80s, and then one you used at the end of your career, it’s like four of your old ones stuck together – but the thing is lighter!
“So why has the ball not evolved? If anything, it has got worse.”


Kookaburra waxes lyrical over anti-virus cricket ball innovation
Australian cricket ball manufacturer Kookaburra is developing a wax applicator that allows players to shine the ball without using saliva or sweat, minimising the risk of Covid-19 transmission.
Players regularly shine one side of the leather-clad ball and scuff up the other to make the ball swing sideways in mid-flight and deceive the batter. But rubbing spit or sweat into the ball’s surface is expressly forbidden under Australian Institute of Sport guidelines released last week that set out the conditions for the game to resume.
Kookaburra said its wax applicator, while still in “very early stage product development”, could provide a solution.
“At Kookaburra we are committed to continuous improvement and innovation in the game we love,” general manager David Orchard told AFP.
“As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic we are always looking for solutions to allow our game to be played safely by all cricketing communities around the world,” he said.
Cricket is suspended around the globe because of the pandemic and the wax applicator would need approval from governing bodies to be used when play resumes.
Kookaburra’s innovation involves using a sponge to apply small amounts of wax to the ball.
Current laws forbid the use of artificial substances to alter the ball but there is a long history of tampering that goes well beyond bowlers spitting on the ball and rubbing it on their clothing.
Test players have been accused of using lozenges, petroleum jelly and resin to shine the ball, and also scuffing it with bottle tops, trouser zippers and grit.
The most notorious recent case was in 2018, when some Australian players attempted to alter the ball with sandpaper during a Test against South Africa in Cape Town, resulting in lengthy bans for those involved.