Out of shape, out of game

Dear all,

Umpires with a ball gauge in one hand inspecting the state, or to be precise the shape, of the ball was a fairly common sight during the quarter final game between Tamil Nadu and Bengal. Well, I was not at all surprised to see that happen as that's routine in first-class cricket. Once the ball goes out of shape it ceases to travel with the seam, which means without the seam getting wobbled in the air, and hence puts the bowlers at a disadvantage. And let me assure you that it happens at least twice or thrice during an innings. Hence the requests are valid and the change of ball mandatory. But that brings another question to the fore. Why do balls go out of shape so often? These are the same balls also used for the Test matches and it doesn't go out of shape so regularly in Test cricket. The make of the ball (SG) and the grade (TEST) is the same but obviously there's some difference which is not visible to the naked eye that makes the ball lose its shape. I doubt the mystery behind this phenomenon would ever be known to us and so I won't even try to solve that riddle. But I will tell you about all that transpires on the field of play.

As an opener you want to bide your time till the ball gets a little old both in terms of shine and hardness. If you survive that long, batting becomes relatively easier. But in domestic cricket the ball often goes out of shape in 15 to 20 overs and then the ball is promptly changed. Umpires select a ball from the spares, which are supposed to be in a similar condition to the one they want to change, and this is determined by the number of overs bowled. These spares balls are marked indicating the number of overs bowled with them.

But in any case it's impossible to find a ball in exactly the same condition as the one you're trying to replace. Now what happens very often is that the umpires run out of spares pretty early in the game and are left with very few options for the rest of the match. They're forced, thereafter, to rub/scruff up a brand new ball to provide for an adequate replacement for the old, out-of-shape ball.

The problem is that though you could take the shine off by rubbing it on the ground (or with sand paper), the hardness remains. And in any case it takes only a few overs to restore the shine. One can't blame the umpires as their hands are tied too. But it isn't a pleasant thing if you're a batsman. The moment a ball is changed you'd see the faster bowlers being reintroduced to make the most of the hardness of the ball. This is exactly what happened in the recently concluded Delhi-Rajasthan game when umpires rubbed a new ball to replace the old one after 45 overs.

Then there's the small matter of being cheeky as well. If the ball isn't doing enough or has lost its hardness (the ball can't be changed for losing hardness) invariably the fielding team starts complaining, which means showing the ball to the umpires after every alternate over. And if you have a big name in your side (read a current international player) it surely helps. I remember playing a Ranji Trophy game almost a decade ago where the opposition's captain was at the helm of Indian cricket. The balls were constantly getting changed (I don't know what was doing the trick — the out-of-shape ball or the presence of a certain someone). We made our peace with all that alright but when the umpires decided to rub a brand new ball to replace a 60-over old ball, we cried foul. Of course it was well within the umpire's right to do that but we were the losers.

This is an issue where both the umpires and the players are on the same page. So much so that one of the umpires recently told me that I must write about this in my blog. Sir, if you're reading this, this one is for you.

Cheers.