Saliva and sweat restrictions 'not too relevant' in white-ball cricket, says Mitchell Starc

The cricketing world hasn't been the same ever since the outbreak of the deadly COVID-19. As saliva is a major source in transmission of the novel coronavirus, the ICC, earlier this year, temporarily put a ban on the usage of saliva. In a bid to make cricket as safe as possible, Cricket Australia (CA) earlier announced that it was further going to restrict its players from using sweat from the head, face and neck to shine the ball during the upcoming limited overs series against England, which comprises three T20Is and ODIs each. 

It effectively means Australian players can now only use sweat from either their stomach or back to shine the ball but, despite the complexity, Australian speedster Mitchell Starc has no qualms about all these restrictions, especially in white-ball cricket.

“It's probably not something that's too relevant in white-ball cricket. Once that new ball starts to go, you're trying to keep it dry anyway. It's more of a question for red-ball cricket," Starc was quoted as saying by Cricket.com.au.

Starc stated that even in domestic cricket in Australia, players haven't been using saliva or sweat.

"We haven't been able to use sweat or saliva back in Australia so that was pretty simple. Slightly more lenient here with the bowler allowed to use sweat from certain places. It's not a huge issue in white-ball cricket, I don't think," the left-armer said.

"I think we saw a bit during that England (Test) series, Jofra (Archer) using some sweat off his back and that sort of thing. If the world stays as it is for a little while, those restrictions will still be there. That saliva one will probably be around for a lot longer anyway. It's one for the red-ball team to talk about when we get to that point, but at the moment we're pretty good," further added the 30-year-old.

The three-match T20I series between England and Australia will get underway from September 4. After the conclusion of the T20Is, the Ashes rivals will lock horns in an ODI series in as many matches, and it will precede the Indian Premier League (IPL), which will commence on September 19.