WI: Windies Youth Team Penalized For Ball Tampering (19 Jun 1996)

19 June 1996

Windies youth team penalised for ball tampering

The West Indies Cricket Board of Control issued a landmark decision on Tuesday when it penalised the Barbados team for ball tampering in a youth championship match against Guyana last July.

WICBC secretary Andrew Searly said the board followed the recommendation of a subcommittee and stripped Barbados of the eight points it had earned in that match.

That means Barbados forfeits its position in the youth championship with Jamaica and Guyana and Grenada, which ended in a threeway tie.

"The board fully endorsed the disappointment of the subcommittee that such an incident should have occurred at this level of the game," Sealy said.

It was the first time any cricket board has taken action against a team accused of changing the condition of a ball. Allegations of ball tampering have created international controversy in recent times.

Under the heading "Unfair play", law 42 states that no player may lift the seam of the ball, rub the ball on the ground, use any artificial substance or take any other action to alter the condition of the ball.

Umpires can replace tampered balls with other, similar balls. But no penalties are stipulated for the offending team.

Bowlers are likely to benefit from a ball that has been altered by lifting its seam, applying a substance such as sunscreen or scratching one side.

During the youth championship, the umpires reportedly examined the ball and replaced it. After Guyana team manager Patrick Legal complained of tampering, the cricket board set up an investigative subcommittee.

It will be recalled that when England batsman Allan Lamb accused Pakistan`s bowlers of ball tampering in the 1992 series in England.

On that occasion, Lamb was fined by the Test and County Cricket Board, England`s cricket authority, after a British newspaper published his allegations. Lamb reportedly will repeat the accusations in his forthcoming autobiography.

Similar allegations had been made during Sri Lanka`s tour of Australia in 1995-1996. On that occasion, the International Cricket Conference cleared Sri Lanka of the charges, which were on that occasion made by umpires Khizar Hyat of Pakistan and Peter Parker of Australia during the first Test at Perth their first test agaisnt Australia in Perth last December.

Source :: Rediff On The NeT (http.//www.redifindia.com)