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The cricket ball is a hard, solid ball with
an interior of cork and a leather case with a slightly raised sewn seam. For men's cricket, the ball must weigh between 5.5 and
5.75 ounces (155.9 and 163 g) and measure between 8.8125 and 9 in (224 and 229 mm) in circumference. Balls used in women's and
youth matches are slightly smaller.
A new, highly polished ball is used at the start of each innings in a match. A cricket ball may not be replaced except under
specific conditions described in the Laws of Cricket:
- If the ball becomes damaged or lost.
- If the condition of the ball is illegally modified by a player.
- If, after a specified number of overs (80 in Test cricket), the captain of the bowling side requests a new ball.
Note that, unlike in baseball, the ball is not replaced if it is hit into the
crowd - the crowd must return it. If the ball is damaged, lost, or illegally modified, it will be replaced by a used
ball in similar condition to the replaced ball. A new ball can only be used after the specified minimum number of overs
have been bowled with the old one.
Because a single ball is used for an extended period of play, its surface wears down and becomes rough. The bowlers will polish it whenever they can - usually by rubbing it on
their trousers, producing the characteristic red stain that can often be seen there. However, they will usually only polish one
side of the ball, to produce an asymmetry which can be used to affect its trajectory in the air. Players may apply natural
substances (i.e. saliva and sweat) to the ball as they polish it, but any other material is illegal.
The seam of a cricket ball can also be used to produce different trajectories through the air, with the technique known as
swing bowling, or to produce sideways movement as it bounces off the
pitch, with the technique known as seam bowling.
Since the condition of the cricket ball is crucial to the amount of movement through the air a bowler can produce, the laws
governing what players may and may not do to the ball are specific and regirously enforced. The umpires will inspect the ball frequently during a match. It is illegal
for a player to:
- Rub any substance apart from saliva or sweat on to the ball.
- Rub the ball on the ground.
- Scuff the ball with any rough object, including the fingernails.
- Pick at or lift the seam of the ball.
Despite these rules, it can be tempting for players to gain an unfair advantage by breaking them. There have been a handful of
incidents of so-called ball tampering at the highest levels of cricket, involving players such as Pakistani fast bowler
Waqar Younis and former England
captain Mike Atherton.
A new cricket ball is harder than a worn one, and is preferred by fast
bowlers because of the speed and bounce of the ball as it bounces off the pitch. Older balls tend to spin more as the roughness grips the pitch more when the ball bounces, so
spin bowlers prefer to use a worn ball. A captain may delay the decision to
request a new ball if he prefers to have his spin bowlers operating, but usually asks for the new ball soon after it becomes
available.
Cricket balls are traditionally dyed red, and red balls are used in Test and First-class cricket. White balls were introduced when one-day matches began being played at night under floodlights, as they are more visible at night. Many
one-day matches are now played with white balls. Other colours have occasionally been experimented with, such as yellow and
orange for improved night visibility, but the colouring process has so far rendered such balls unsuitable for professional play
because they wear differently to standard balls.
The cricket ball is notoriously hard, and potentially lethal. Frederick, Prince of Wales, died of complications after being hit by one, and Glamorgan player, Roger Davis, was almost killed by one. Hence today's batsmen and fielders often wear protective
headgear.
External link
Cricket law 5 - the ball
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