The tape ball's role in Pakistan cricket

"Non first-class cricket in Pakistan has been played with a tape ball in every galli (lane) and rural field for 20 years," writes Osman Samiuddin in The Guardian. "Parallel to this period has been an assembly line of fast bowlers, able to extract reverse swing almost on demand."

Until Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones last summer, old cricket balls were mostly useful in Pakistani hands. Explanations for reverse swing came within quotation marks, accompanied by winks and nods - "working hard on the ball" or "rough outfields help" mostly meant "show me a finger nail/bottle top and I'll show you a collapse". Last summer reverse swing became a science. Vindicated Pakistanis blustered. They might also have pondered the role of the tape ball - a tennis ball covered with electrical tape.