On Monday, former India leg-spinner Anil Kumble chair headed the International Cricket Council Cricket Committee meeting. During the same, the committee recommended a ban on the use of saliva to shine the ball amid the spread of coronavirus.

Shining the ball is an integral part of international cricket. It helps the bowlers to swing the ball both ways. It is a traditional practice for the bowlers to use saliva to shine the ball. However, the practice is unsafe now as the CoronaVirus spreads through the medium of spits and droplets. Therefore, the ICC’s medical committee has raised the issue of saliva being unsafe.

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ICC released a statement speaking on a ban on saliva. The statement also spoke about how the committee has proposed appointing non-neutral match officials for all international matches.

The press release stated,  “The ICC Cricket Committee today recommended changes to ICC regulations to mitigate the risks posed by the COVID-19 virus, and protect the safety of players and match officials.”

“The ICC Cricket Committee heard from the Chair of the ICC Medical Advisory Committee Dr. Peter Harcourt regarding the elevated risk of the transmission of the virus through saliva. It is unanimously agreed to recommend that the use of saliva to polish the ball be prohibited,” it added.

However, it is deemed that the transmission of CornaVirus from one person to another doesn’t happen via sweat. Hence the use of sweat hasn’t been banned as of now.

“The Committee also noted the medical advice that it is highly unlikely that the virus can be transmitted through sweat and saw no need to prohibit the use of sweat to polish the ball whilst recommending that enhanced hygiene measures are implemented on and around the playing field,” the release added.

Another major change proposed was having an additional DRS option for teams across all formats. The statement said, “The Committee also proposed an additional DRS review per team per innings is introduced in each format as an interim measure.”

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Anil Kumble, who chaired the meeting said, “We are living through extraordinary times. The recommendations the Committee has made today are interim measures to enable us to safely resume cricket in a way that preserves the essence of our game whilst protecting everyone involved,”