England Tampering Charges — Absolutely Avoidable Controversy

The England bowlers are under extreme media scrutiny these days since they were charged with tampering the ball in the last test match versus South Africa. However, if you closely look at the TV grabs, it really doesn’t look like James Anderson was manipulating the seam in any way. In fact, at one point, it is clearly visible that he is holding the ball, near the seam and not upon it and simply polishing
one side of the ball. Yes, the rubbing part does give the impression of pressing down upon the ball but it isn’t hard enough to actually disfigure a cricket ball. I have played a lot of cricket myself and let me tell you that the most used, worn-out of cricket ball also don’t get maneuvered so easily as suggested by the Protean media speculation. What is most strange is that the TV umpire, despite having a host of technological assistance at his disposal couldn’t make this simple differentiation and vented this unrequired controversy. Just ask any domestic or club level player around you and they will say the same after seeing the Stuart Broad – Anderson TV footage — nothing so drastic ever happened, it is just misplaced, wishful thinking of some over-critical cricketing ‘experts’.