Given the risk posed by the coronavirus, the International Cricket Council Cricket Committee, under the chairmanship of former Indian leg spinner Anil Kumble, has recommended prohibiting the use of saliva to shine ball.
Chair of the ICC Medical Advisory Committee Dr Peter Harcourt presented the elevated risk of the transmission of the COVID-19 virus through saliva, after which it was unanimously agreed to recommend that the use of saliva to polish the ball, be prohibited.
It was also noted that transmission of the virus was highly unlikely through sweat, therefore there was no need to stop the use of sweat to polish the ball.
ICC Cricket Committee chair Anil Kumble said, "We are living through extraordinary times and the recommendations the committee have made are interim measures to enable us to safely resume cricket in a way that preserves the essence of our game whilst protecting everyone involved.”
Also, given the current challenges related to international travel, the Committee has recommended that local match officials should be appointed for a short period of time.
These appointments will be made through ICC from local Elite and International panel referees and umpires. In countries where there are no Elite panel match officials, the best local international panel match officials will be appointed. Currently officials appointed by ICC for Test, ODI and T20 matches must not be from the same country as the participating teams.
These recommendations by the Cricket Committee will be presented to the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee in early June for approval.
