'It might end all other shenanigans' - Ian Chappell has an interesting solution to stop ball-tampering

It seemed like the 2018 Newlands Test ball-tampering was done for good when Australia recovered from the stigma and controversies surrounding one of their lowest-ever period in cricket until Cameron Bancroft came with a shocking revelation. The Australia opening batter revealed that bowlers already knew about it before it was carried out.

With strong revelations made by the batter, Cricket Australia (CA) decided to conduct the review meeting where the bowlers were questioned on the same. Former Australia cricketer Ian Chappell has come with an interesting idea, which he believes may stop players from using illegal means to change the condition of the ball.

The cricketer-turned commentator is known for his street smartness and strong views and this time too, he has given a very practical idea on how to tackle the situation.

“I think about 20 years ago, I said what they should do is go to the captains of every country and you get a list of things that they think will help the ball swing. Then you send us all these lists, we’ll go through them and we’ll come up with one thing and it will be a sensible thing, not using a bottle cap to scrape the ball. It’ll be viable but we’ll give you one thing that’ll help you swing the ball and everything else will be illegal,” Chappell said during a discussion on ESPNcricinfo.

Ian Chappell’s interesting take on ball-tampering

The 70-year-old also stated that maybe his suggestion might not work, but added that it can give something to the bowlers in a game that predominantly favors the batters.

“Maybe I am naive but think if you did that, you might stop all the other shenanigans because you give them something in return,” Chappell added.

“Let’s look at the way the laws are written. They are pretty much always written in favor of the batsman and if you go right back to underarm bowling to sidearm bowling… to body line and ball-tampering – they all come about because the balance is too much in favor of the batsmen and the bowlers eventually say ‘we have had enough, we are mad as hell and we are going to do something about it,” he further said.

He further concluded by saying the issue might crop up in a few months’ time after David Warner’s autobiography comes out.