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Cricket

Trescothick reveals ball shining trick

24/08/2008

Former England opening batsman Marcus Trescothick has revealed in his autobiography how he used sweets to help shine the ball during past Ashes series.

Trescothick said he experimented with a variety of sweets which he used to suck on and then used sugary saliva on the ball to help it swing.

The Somerset batsman claims to have been using the technique since as early as 2001 and certainly used it during England's victorious Ashes win in 2005.

He wrote: "I was firmly established as the man in charge of looking after the ball when we were fielding.

"It was my job to keep the shine on the new ball for as long as possible with a bit of spit and a lot of polish - and through trial and error I finally settled on the best type of spit for the task at hand."

He added: "I had a go at Murray Mints and found they worked a treat."

In 2001 Trescothick had to report to the match referees room during an Ashes clash when a handful of lollipops fell out of his pocket. However, he was not charged with any wrongdoing due to a lack of evidence.

The laws of the game forbid the application "any artificial substance" to the ball. But Trescothick may be able to get round the law as his artificial substance was mediated by his own body – natural substances such as sweat and saliva being legal.

An International Cricket Council (ICC) spokesman told the BBC: "According to the laws this is illegal - but we won't outlaw sucking sweets.

"If appropriate, it would be looked into. But where do you stop, for example, if you start to try to stop everyone who is chewing gum?"

Trescothick last played for England in 2006 but had to stop playing at the highest level due a stress-related illness.