BALL TAMPERING
Cricket, as with virtually every aspect of life, will have to make some adjustments as it seeks to advance safety in a post Covid-19 lockdown world. Hopefully. The International Cricket Council’s executive committee met this week where new ball maintenance methods were discussed. Saliva and sweat may not be the done thing anymore when it comes to polishing a ball - nor for that matter mints (sorry Faf). The ICC quite rightly is look at ‘ball tampering’, and the use of ‘foreign’ substances. “Such a move would likely require flexibility in terms of the substance depending on the ball being used,” cricinfo.com reported. “Kookaburra, Dukes and SG balls, to name three, are all likely to respond better to slightly different substances such as leather moisturiser, wax or shoe polish. It would also require a degree of flexibility in terms of being allowed at all levels of the game, to prevent players at every level from sharing a ball that has been lathered in saliva.” Cricket’s future may include the fielding team taking sachets of boot polish or wax in the players’ pockets. There’s been no word on zips or bottle tops as yet.
AUSTRALIAN RUGBY MESS
Rugby Australia knows how cut off its nose and shoot itself in both feet given all the goings on in that organisation these last few days. The body’s CEO Raelene Castle resigned on Thursday having got wind of the fact she no longer had the backing of the organisation’s board, even though she’d gotten an assurance from chairman Paul McLean that she had their support. Castle had called McLean in the morning before conducting a TV interview to confirm his and the board’s support before she went on TV, which she got, but before the interview even aired, she resigned having heard she in fact didn’t have the Board’s support. Rugby in Australia is a confusing mess, mired in bankruptcy and with a future that looks increasingly bleak. Given all Castle had to deal with in a two year tenure - Israel Falou and Michael Cheika to name just two - she will emerge the better person from all this.
LEAVE LIVERPOOL FANS ALONE
These are difficult times for media, especially newspapers, and while online traffic has increased enormously, there are still those out there desperate to be clicked. Take the Liverpool Echo which ran the following headline on its site this week. “Liverpool club told season is over after ‘clear majority’ vote to cancel matches.” Now with all this stuff about the league season in England ending and what to do with trophies and relegation it is easy to see how fans could get anxious and just click away. Throw in Liverpool supporter’s 30 year long wait for a league title and that desperation goes through the roof. However, as pointed out by football365.com “times are tough and plummeting ad sales make every click precious, but to wilfully suggest to Liverpool fans that Liverpool’s season could be over as they sit in limbo waiting for a first Premier League title is a truly rotten trick.” Of course, the ‘Liverpool club’ in question is actually National League side Southport, which is fully 16 miles away from Liverpool.