Used mints, sun cream, zip to alter ball condition, says Monty Panesar

Australian players Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were banned from the game for using sandpaper to tamper the ball in the series against South Africa, and were booed in their World Cup warm-up match against England. And now, England spinner Monty Panesar has revealed that he used to alter the condition of the ball using various substances during his playing days.

"Whether we broke the laws depends on how you interpret them. We found that mints and sun cream had an effect on the saliva, and that helped the ball to reverse. I might also have 'accidentally' caught the ball on the zip of my trouser pocket to rough it up a little,” he wrote.

The law 42.3 of the MCC’s Laws of Cricket states that ‘any fielder may polish the ball provided that no artificial substance is used and that such polishing wastes no time. However, Panesar, who played 50 Tests for England between 2006 and 2013 put forward his point of view. 

"That was probably a hairline fracture of the spirit of the game, even if the laws said you were allowed to 'use your uniform',” he remarked.

"We all tried to change the condition of the ball, because reverse swing has such a huge impact,” added the 37-year-old.

The southpaw even went on to say that his job in the side was to prepare the ball for the seamers. The Bedfordshire born player singled out James Anderson and revealed that pacer had asked him to keep the ball as dry as possible. Anderson was accused of digging his thumbnail into the ball in 2017 Ashes but he termed the allegations as ridiculous.

“When I came into the England side, my job was to prepare the ball for the seamers. They'd say, 'Listen mate, if you want to bowl with us it's on one condition. Make sure you don't get your sweaty hands on our shiny side. Opening bowler Jimmy Anderson would say: 'I just want you to keep that ball as dry as possible,” Panesar shared.