Cape Town ball-tampering fiasco was like a cry for help, reveals Dale Steyn

Cape Town ball-tampering fiasco was like a cry for help, reveals Dale Steyn

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South African fast bowler, Dale Steyn has claimed that the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal was more like a “cry for help” due to the imbalance that nowadays exists between ball and bat. Steyn feels that the rules of the game need to be changed in order to restore the balance to the game of cricket.

The 35-year-old felt that the current rules were curbing the rights of the fast bowlers to reverse-swing the ball and putting them in a pressure situation to take wickets. As a result, the desperation to swing the ball was causing the players to flirt with the rules and regulations.

Speaking about the Cape Town ball-tampering incident Steyn said that it was more like a “cry for help” kind of situation which was not right. He mentioned the new rules which were totally in favour of the batsmen and did not allow the bowlers to settle down. The fast bowler further claimed that he never saw a new rule in favour of the bowlers.

“The ball-tampering scandal is totally not on, but if you think deeper, it’s almost like a cry for help. The game is mostly in favour of the batsmen nowadays. Fields are small, two new balls, powerplays, bigger bats, free-hits and the list can go on. But I have never seen a rule change in favour of the bowlers,” Steyn said.

Earlier, bowlers used to swing the new ball (in the air) using its shine and conventional swing methods. In the 1980s, Pakistani bowlers completely outfoxed the cricketing world by introducing reverse-swing to Test cricket. They started swinging the old ball in a direction completely opposite to the conventional swing. This art was further mastered by the next generation greats, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

In March 2018, on the third day of the third Test between South Africa and Australia, Bancroft was caught carrying sandpaper in his hand and was handed a ban of nine months. Captain Steven Smith and Vice-Captain David Warner were handed a one year bans for the same.

Steyn expressed his disappointment over the current situation. He said that it would be a sad day to see reverse swing disappear. He remembered watching Wasim and Waqar trouble the batsmen with the art of reverse swing. He felt that if it continues like this then people should rather introduce a bowling machine and let everyone become a batsman.

“It is a sad scenario which will worsen if reverse swing disappears. I grew up watching Wasim and Waqar run in a reverse swing the ball. You just don’t see it today. The quality of bowling has reduced and you might as well put a bowling machine instead and let everyone become a batter,” he added.

The International Cricket Council in 2011 introduced a rule of two new balls in an innings in a 50-over game. Speaking of which, Steyn said that it was not at all needed as he would not like a batsman to feel comfortable with the ball coming on to the bat in the death overs.

"I would not prefer a second new ball when I am bowling, especially in the subcontinent. I want it to stay low and not have true bounce so that batsman can’t hit me properly. These are not the rules that are in our favour,” Steyn concluded.

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