Cricket to resume in Australia from June 6
Competitive cricket is set to resume in Australia next month with the Darwin & District Cricket Competition season scheduled to begin on June 6.
It will be the first competitive cricket played in the country since the COVID-19 pandemic struck. There has been no decision on this year's NT Strike League, the T20 tournament that saw David Warner play in 2018.
Clubs will be required to complete a COVID-19 Safety Plan assessment and submit it to the Northern Territory Government before they can play, and some details are still being worked out with Cricket Australia.
The use of spit and saliva to shine a white Kookaburra ball in limited-overs competition is not seen as overly problematic by Australia's international players but the Darwin Cricket Management (DCM) group are working through options, including having umpires involved in ball-shining using a wax applicator.
Shining the ball using sweat or saliva will be banned in the competition when the game returns, in line with guidelines from Cricket Australia. But other options are being considered with DCM chair Lachlan Baird keeping abreast the options.
In line with ICC discussions, one includes an umpire being involved in the shining of the ball with wax applied to it, removing the need for saliva to be added.
"The ICC is working really closely with all the cricket bodies around the world in terms of finding new ways," Baird told ABC Grandstand. "Some consideration is now being given to whether things like that wax applicator will become part of cricket's new normal.
"And whether it will move way from the ball being shined – a dark mysterious art that happens in the outfield – to a more formalised process that happens with the umpires being involved.
"They're all the things cricket is working through at the moment. I think it is a logical step (to remove the use of saliva). If you were creating cricket today, I'm not sure ball shining would be part of the game.
"We're confident we will haver clear guidelines from CA with what is and isn't going to be allowed."
The use of wax would contravene current regulations unless a change is approved by the ICC, but would be a far safer and hygienic process.
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