Experts for legalising ball tampering to even bat and ball contest

Melbourne, Feb 2 (ANI): To give bowlers an edge in an increasingly batting-friendly game, cricket expert Brendon Julian has called for ball-tampering to be legalised to put bowlers at equal footing with batsmen.

In the wake of Pakistan stand-in skipper Shahid Afridi's bizarre biting incident in the fifth ODI in Perth, Julian says allowing bowlers to alter the state of the ball will give them a chance in a game that has been slanted towards the batsmen over the last 20 years."When all that (ball-tampering) first came out and the ball was reversing ... People were saying hang on, we can't have that. We can't have the ball swinging around after fifty overs. Well, why not? Why can't we do that?" Fox Sports quotes Julian, as saying.

Commenting on changing cricket laws, Fox Sports commentator Allan Border said giving the bowlers an edge would be good for cricket.

Speaking on Inside Cricket, Julian said authorities were too quick to bring in stringent rules on ball-tampering in the first place and relaxing the laws would even up the contest between bat and ball.

"In Pakistan and India, you watch bat-a-thons where 800 runs are scored and the wickets are so flat. So all of a sudden, bowlers are thinking of ways to get the batsmen out," he said.

With bats getting more powerful, grounds getting smaller and wickets getting flatter, Julian says bowlers need to be given more leeway.

Changing the condition of the ball gives bowlers an edge as it allows them to get reverse swing when the ball is old, he added.

New Zealand legend Sir Richard Hadlee has long been an advocate for open slather on ball tampering, saying bowlers should be allowed to alter the ball as long as they don't use a foreign object. (ANI)