Ball Tampering and the Gentleman’s game

Cricket is fondly called the gentleman's game for reasons like they are never played aggressively. The major sports of the world have an element of aggression in them and cricket is known to not be a part of it. The recent news about ball tampering in the game of cricket has actually bought disgrace to the game. For those who are not aware of ball tampering, this is a small briefing about what a ball-tampering means in layman's terms and how it plays a role in changing the structure of the game.

What exactly is Ball Tampering?

Tampering is to alter the shape of the ball that would prevent the batsmen from giving runs. The tampering can be done even by using saliva. The balls that are tampered give an easy way for swing action of the ball. The swing action of the ball depends on the aerodynamics. The swing bowlers are very well aware of the fact and they have been tampering the balls for a long time since. The usage of sunscreen over the balls, rubbing of the ball in the player’s jersey makes one side of the ball's surface rough. Some other even more rough techniques are also followed.

When did this get the limelight?

The test cricket match played by the Australian players who were found to be tampering the ball caught the attention of the media. The governing body of Australian Cricket Council took actions to ban the players for a brief period of 12 months. There have been several instances of this activity recorded in the history of cricket. But this particular incident had become the talk of the town owing to the fact that Australia is considered to be one of the best teams in the world for cricket. The Australians are also widely hated by some other groups as they were way too arrogant on the field. There have also been instances of Indian players involving in such activities and getting fined heftily. This news came about the time when people have become even more avid followers of cricket after the usage of social media to cover the latest happenings jet speed. The fans of cricket were disappointed and this forced the Board members to take immediate action upon these players.

Such activities that are committed due to one's greed bring a lot of degradation to the game that is being played for centuries. It would be better if the players are cautious of their actions.