“It is a bit of a grey area at the moment”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

England captain Alastair Cook has called on the International Cricket Council (ICC) to make it clearer what it acceptable when it comes to shining the ball.

Cook’s remarks come on the back of South Africa stand-in captain Faf du Plessis being found guilty of ball-tampering and fined 100 per cent of his match fee for the second Test against Australia in Hobart.

Du Plessis, who has confirmed that he will appeal against the verdict, came onto the ICC’s radar after footage emerged of him licking his fingers while sucking on a mint before proceeding to rub and shine the ball.

On Thursday, England pace bowler Chris Woakes admitted that there was a lot of uncertainty about the law 42.3 of the Laws of Cricket, which says that players are allowed to “polish the ball provided that no artificial substance is used”.

Cook echoed Woakes’ sentiments, saying: “I think Woakesey summed up quite nicely yesterday, it is a bit of a grey area at the moment. Players are slightly uncertain at the moment, what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. I haven’t studied Faf’s case that closely to see if he was taking the sweet straight to the ball or did he just happen to have a lolly in his mouth.

“I think the players are now, after the last 10 days, probably just looking to the ICC to clarify what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. If they said you aren’t allowed to directly put your finger from the sweet onto the ball, it might clear it up.”

England are currently involved in a five-Test series against India and are trailing 1-0 going into the third Test in Mohali on Saturday as they were thrashed by 246 runs in the second Test in Visakhapatnam.