Sports

Weekly Sports Newsletter: Has reverse swing become a Covid victim?

Just before the India Test, Anderson mentioned spit while joining the chorus of criticism directed towards the 2022 batch of allegedly soft Duke balls. His lament hit headlines in the wake of the unusually tall scores around the county circuit.

Late one October evening in 1990 during a long net session at Faisalabad towards the end of New Zealand-Pakistan Test series, master batsman Martin Crowe swung the ball miles in the air. It was to prove an eureka moment for his team that had been blown away by reverse swing of Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram in the first two Tests. It would also open the eyes of the world to magic that would unfold when a cricket ball was doctored – half battered, half sparkling. It would even open a can of worms.

On that trip, before he magically transformed into Sultan of Swing for a day, the late New Zealand legend had got repeatedly conned by Akram. During the second Test, Crowe would play for the inswing and the ball would go the other way. He was clueless. It wasn’t something that happened too often to the deep thinking cricketer with flawless technique.

Trust a New Zealander to get inquisitive, get to the heart of the problem and find a solution. During the same inning, Crowe would dead-bat a leggie Abdul Qadir delivery to his feet, pick the ball and have a close look at it. To his horror he saw that the leather on one side of the ball was badly mutilated. In contrast the other hemisphere was broadly untouched and shining. After the game, the Kiwis would experiment at their training session. They would use bottle caps to produce a Made in New Zealand designer ball.

Gradually, as the scrutiny intensified, it would become tougher to damage the ball but polishing it with spit would remain a legitimate ploy. Every team would have designated ball-shinners. Keeping the ball unsullied and sparkling also wasn’t an all-clean operation. Players would adulterate the spit to get the extra shine on the ball so that it contrasts with the coarseness, natural or man-made, of the other side and thus be conducive for reverse swing. Gums, mints and lozenges would be to the cricket ball, what cherryblosom was to leather shoes.

The ball-tampering law was among many ambiguities of this ancient English game. The definition of infringement was different on either side of the seam. The ICC remained broad-minded towards sly shining but had zero-tolerance for scratching it. One was considered a white-colloared crime that would get a rap on the knuckle but the other was day-light robbery that got ignominy and bans.

And then Covid happened and inadvertently the rules evened out. Spit would become a four-letter word. The ongoing India-England Test at Edgbaston happens to be the second anniversary of the spit-ban. It has been the period when bowlers have only used sweat to shine the ball and they aren’t too happy about it. Interestingly two English bowlers playing the Test – James Anderson and Stuart Broad – have seen a drop in their strike rate. It could be age or conditions but it also could be spit. The new rule allows the fielding side to use sweat to shine the ball but not lick the fingers and transfer the saliva on it

Anderson, after his early impact with the new ball, would struggle on the opening day of the Test. India would go from 98/5 in 28 overs to 338/7 in 73 overs. Reverse swing was conspicuous by its absence. There was no mid-inning excitement among the bowlers, the moment when the ball was battered enough on one side to do the kind of tricks the two Was made famous never came. The Indian batsmen did get out but unlike Crowe they were clueless about which way the ball would move. Without the saliva treatment, the ball didn’t quite have a mind of its own.

The two best exponents of the fascinating art of moving the ball have expectedly been pro-spit. Even during the pandemic, Akram didn’t mind being border-line politically wrong. The bowler in him emphasised that without the use of spit it was not possible to move the ball. “The ban will make bowlers robots, coming and bowling without swing,” he said.

Just before the India Test, Anderson mentioned spit while joining the chorus of criticism directed towards the 2022 batch of allegedly soft Duke balls. His lament hit headlines in the wake of the unusually tall scores around the county circuit.

“It’s tough [for bowlers] especially as we are playing on good pitches and these balls aren’t doing a lot,” Anderson said. “Potentially it could be that [lack of saliva making the ball not swing as much] but I’m not sure it’s ever going to change, certainly in the foreseeable future, because of the Covid situation. Speaking to bowlers after the game they would like that [saliva] to be allowed but I can’t see it happening.”

Para Sports Academy: जोधपुर. करीब 20 करोड़ रुपए की लागत से प्रदेश की पहली आवासीय पैरा खेल अकादमी जोधपुर में बनेगी। इस अकादमी में दिव्यांग खिलाड़ियों को रहने-ठहरने की सुविधाओं के साथ अपनी क्षमता और प्रतिभा दिखाने का अवसर मिलेगा।

ओलंपिक सहित अन्य राष्ट्रीय-अंतरराष्ट्रीय स्तर की प्रतियोगिताओं में प्रदर्शन कर मैडल जीतने वाले राजस्थान के खिलाडि़यों को योग्य प्रशिक्षकों से प्रशिक्षण मिलेगा। इससे उनकी खेल दक्षता में सुधार होगा। इससे इस अकादमी में तैयार होने वाले प्रदेश के पैरा खिलाडि़यों के ओलंपिक तक जाने व मैडल लाने की उम्मीदें जगेगी।

दिव्यांगों को प्रशिक्षण

दिव्यांगों के लिए बनाई जा रही आवासीय पैरा खेल एकेडमी में सभी श्रेणियों के दिव्यांगों को प्रशिक्षण दिया जाएगा, जिनमें दृष्टिहीन, शारीरिक रूप से विकलांग, मूक बधिर व मानसिक विमंदित शामिल है। इन खिलाड़ियों को यहां वर्षपर्यंत प्रशिक्षण दिया जाएगा।

आवासीय सुविधाएं

प्रदेश के एकमात्र सरकारी शारीरिक शिक्षक महाविद्यालय में खेल विभाग की ओर से फिजीकल कॉलेज में आवासीय खेल विद्यालय खोलने की स्वीकृति जारी की गई, जिसमें 240 विभिन्न खेलों के खिलाड़ियों के लिए आवासीय सुविधाएं विकसित होंगी। इसके लिए वायुसेना मुख्यालय से स्वीकृति चाही गई थी। इन सभी परियोजनाओं के लिए वायु सेना मुख्यालय से स्वीकृति प्राप्त कर ली गई है। अब फिजीकल कॉलेज में करीब 5 करोड़ रुपए की लागत से खेल सुविधाओं का विकास होगा। इसके अलावा, फिजीकल कॉलेज में अतिरिक्त कक्षा कक्ष, छात्रावास, बैंडमिंटन कोर्ट, स्वीमिंग पूल, ऑडिटोरियम आदि सुविधाएं विकसित की जाएगी।

बनेगा स्पोर्ट्स स्कूल

जिला खेल अधिकारी शरद टाक के अनुसार, आंगणवा में अनुमानित सात करोड़ रुपए की लागत से रेजिडेंशियल स्पोर्ट्स स्कूल बनाया जाएगा। इसमें खिलाड़ियों को आवास, शिक्षा व खेल प्रशिक्षण की सुविधाए नि:शुल्क उपलब्ध होगी। इसके अलावा करीब 15 करोड़ रुपए की लागत से राजस्थान स्टेट स्पोर्ट्स इंस्टीट्यूट व करीब 10 करोड़ की लागत से राजस्थान हाई परफोर्मेन्स स्पोर्ट्स ट्रेनिंग द रिहेबिटेशन सेंटर की स्थापना की जाएगी। जोधपुर के लिए मुख्यमंत्री बजट घोषणा वर्ष 2020-21, 2021-22 व 2022-23 के अन्तर्गत कई महत्वाकांक्षी खेल परियोजनाएं स्वीकृत की गई हैं। राजस्थान शारीरिक शिक्षक संघ के प्रदेशाध्यक्ष हापूराम चौधरी ने बताया कि सरकार के इस कदम से खेल क्षेत्र में जोधपुर नई ऊंचाइयों को छूएगा।