Cricket Australia (CA) has restricted its players from using sweat from the head, face and neck to shine the ball during the upcoming limited-overs tour of England in a bid to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
Based on medical advice, CA has asked its players not to use sweat from near the mouth or nose, according to Cricket.com.au. This leaves players with the option of using sweat from either the stomach or back.
The team’s premier pacer Mitchell Starc feels the regulation will not have much affect in the limited-overs formats.
“It’s more of a question for red-ball cricket,” Starc said.
Rain affected
Meanwhile, Australia’s first intra-squad practice match was abandoned midway because of rain on Friday.
Rain stopped play in the Twenty20 hit-out when a team led by vice-captain Pat Cummins was on 60 for no loss in reply to the 150 made by an opposition side captained by Australia’s limited-overs skipper, Aaron Finch. Just 25.5 overs were possible in total.
Finch and fellow opener David Warner put on a stand of 75 in 9.2 overs for the Finch XI.
