CHENNAI: A day after Kookaburra revealed it has developed a wax applicator to shine cricket balls, Sanspareils Greenlands (SG) confirmed that the process to produce a similar artificial substance is underway and the product will be ready later this month. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the International Cricket Council to deliberate on the use of foreign substances instead of saliva or sweat to help bowlers make the ball swing.
SG, the leading manufacturer of cricket equipment in India, had earlier told this newspaper that it will be ready with new balls in three weeks if the laws were amended in the wake of the pandemic.
“We are also developing wax which can be used to shine the ball instead of saliva or sweat. We will be ready with our version later this month,” Paras Anand, SG’s marketing and sales director, told this daily.
The SG units in Meerut were shut down on March 21 and Anand is expecting them to restart next week. “We are in lockdown for the last 45 days. We will be able to give more information (on the new product) a week after resuming operations,” he added.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India, however, has not approached them yet. The official also claimed that the ball manufacturing process will not undergo a drastic change in the wake of the developments.
“Even if there is any change, it will surely be insignificant.” The only alterations will involve changing the amount of lacquer used on the ball or the leather waxing, he had said in the past.