Cricket ball

Cricket ball

A cricket ball is a hard, solid ball that is used in cricket .

Dimensions and material

The cricket ball has a core made of cork , which is tightly wrapped with string. The cover consists of four pieces of leather that are connected by a slightly raised seam. For this purpose, the leather is sewn six times.

The ball weighs 155.9–163 g (5 1 / 2–5 3/4 ounces) and has a circumference of 22.4–22.9 cm (8 13/16–9 inches; Ø≈7.2 cm) . The balls in the youth and women's area are a bit lighter and smaller.

Traditionally, the cricket ball is dark red. Until 2015, such balls were used exclusively in test matches and in other first-class matches . Since then, other colors have been allowed for games under floodlights , such as pink. In contrast, one-day cricket and T20 usually use white balls, which are more visible under the floodlight conditions.

Due to the hardness of the cricket ball, fielding is sometimes dangerous. Field players standing near the striker ( Close Fielder ) often wear a protective helmet with face protection.

Wear of the cricket ball

A new, heavily polished ball is always used at the start of each inning . According to the rules, an exchange of the ball is only permitted in special cases or after a certain number of overs (80 overs in test matches). Therefore, for example, the spectators must also return the cricket ball when the ball is hit in the stands. Defective or untraceable cricket balls will be replaced by ones that have been worn to a comparable extent.

Worn out cricket ball

Over the course of an inning, the ball wears out and the surface becomes rough. The bowler therefore polishes the cricket ball on one side of the seam as often as possible by rubbing it against his pants. He may use natural fluids (i.e. saliva or sweat ), but no other materials.

The new cricket ball is harder than the worn one and therefore bounces off the ground at a higher speed. It is therefore of fast bowlers ( almost bowler preferred). Because of its rougher surface, the older ball regularly has more spin after hitting the ground and is therefore used by slower, often cut bowlers ( spin bowler ).

Ball tampering

The deliberate manipulation of the ball can also be used to the advantage of the bowler. The field team is interested in creating the greatest possible difference between the smooth and rough side of the ball in order to create a so-called reverse swing and to make the trajectory unpredictable for the batsman. While the polishing of the ball is allowed according to the rules of cricket (even if the use of substances such as sunscreen or hair gel is not, which is hardly punished), roughening with foreign objects is not. Using an object such as sandpaper, teeth, the spikes of shoes or using fingernails to accelerate roughening is illegal and is called ball tampering . The umpire punishes tampering the ball with 5 penalty runs and the ball is exchanged. Ball tampering mostly takes place in test matches and there have been a number of known incidents in the past.

Known incidents

• During the tour of South Africa in England in 1994 , the English captain Michael Atherton was accused in the first test of using dirt in his pocket to roughen the ball. He was fined.
• The first player to receive a ban on ball tampering was Waqar Younis , who was accused of tampering with the ball in the 2000 Singer Triangular Series .
• During the tour of India in South Africa 2001/02 the Indian player Sachin Tendulkar was accused of ball manipulation by umpire Mike Denness in the second test . This led to accusations of racism from the Indian media against the referee and led to the immediate termination of the official tour to prevent Denness from being used in the final test. This led to a reform of the refereeing system in international cricket. Tendulkar was ultimately acquitted.
• During the 2006 tour of Pakistan in England , umpire Darrell Hair ruled that Pakistan had manipulated the ball. After a break, the Pakistani team refused to enter the field and after a short time the referee team decided to score the test for England.
• In the 2013 tour of South Africa against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates , South Africa's player Faf du Plessis was accused of ball manipulation and South Africa received 5 penalty runs.
• Nine months later, it hit South Africa again, this time bowler Vernon Philander was fined.
• During the tour of South Africa in Australia in 2016/17 , it was again the South African Faf du Plessis who was accused of manipulating the ball after TV recordings.
• At the next meeting of South Africa and Australia in South Africa , it was the Australian Cameron Bancroft who was convicted of using sandpaper on TV recordings. He and Captains Steve Smith and David Warner were suspended after he lied to the umpires on the field and it was revealed at a press conference that the management team had known about the ball manipulation plans .

Alternatives

In recreational sports outside of leagues, a tennis ball is sometimes used for safety and cost reasons . This is often wrapped with electrical tape to make the relatively soft tennis ball harder and smoother.

Web links

Commons : Cricket Balls  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Cricket Rule 5 - The Ball (English)
• Report on the production of cricket balls (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ball-tampering row: How does it work and what effect does it have? ( English ) Cricinfo. March 27, 2018. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
2. ↑ Atherton's darkest day ( English ) BBC. August 29, 2001. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
3. ↑ Waqar suspended for ball-tampering ( English ) Cricinfo. July 9, 2000. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
4. ↑ Peter Robinson: Tendulkar appears before match referee ( English ) Cricinfo. November 19, 2001. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
5. ↑ Peter Robinson: South Africa and India to go ahead with unofficial Test without Denness ( English ) Cricinfo. November 22, 2001. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
6. ↑ Subba Row joins umpiring reform team ( English ) BBC. March 26, 2001. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
7. ^ Tendulkar not guilty of ball-tampering, say ICC ( English ) Guardian. November 29, 2001. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
8. ↑ As the chaos unfolded ( English ) Cricinfo. August 20, 2006. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
9. ↑ Andrew McGlashan: Test forfeited after ball tampering chaos ( English ) Cricinfo. August 20, 2006. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
10. ↑ South Africa penalized for ball tampering against Pakistan ( English ) BBC. October 25, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
11. ↑ Pakistan demand explanation after ICC hands down 'inconsistent' ball tampering punishment ( English ) Telegraph. October 26, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
12. ↑ Firdose Moonda in Galle: Philander fined for ball-tampering ( English ) Cricinfo. July 18, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
13. ↑ Firdose Moonda: ICC reviewing du Plessis footage for possible code breach ( English ) Cricinfo. November 17, 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
14. ↑ ICC charges du Plessis over alleged ball tampering ( English ) Cricinfo. November 18, 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
15. ↑ Firdose MOONDA: Du Plessis found guilty, but free to play in Adelaide ( English ) Cricinfo. November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
16. ↑ Daniel Brettig: Cameron Bancroft at center of alleged ball-tampering row ( English ) Cricinfo. March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
17. ^ Adam Collins: Steve Smith admits to Australia ball-tampering plan against South Africa ( English ) Cricinfo. March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
18. ↑ Australian ball-tampering: Steve Smith and David Warner banned for 12 months ( English ) BBC. March 28, 2018. Retrieved March 29, 2018.