Ban on saliva use won't matter with Kookaburra balls: Brett Lee

ICC had recently banned the use of saliva on the ball as a precautionary measure against COVID-19 and many former players have suggested using alternatives on the ball to make the contest between bat and ball more even.

Mumbai: Former Australian pacer Brett Lee has said that the saliva ban would not matter when matches are being played with the Kookaburra ball as it does not naturally swing much.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) had recently banned the use of saliva on the ball as a precautionary measure against COVID-19 and many former players have suggested using alternatives on the ball to make the contest between bat and ball more even.

Virat Kohli (Representational image)

"I think it is definitely a disadvantage to the bowlers. Maybe the other option was to test all the players before they go out on the field and only allow the ones that are cleared to take part in the game. I do not think it matters with the kookaburra ball as it has not been swinging recently much anyway," Lee said.

The former Australian pacer also said that reverse swing will not come into play much because of the saliva ban.

"Yes, I do not think we are going to see any reverse swing or little anyway because of the saliva ban," Lee said.

International cricket resumed last week with England and West Indies facing each other in a three-Test series. The first match was won by West Indies by four wickets and many people raised questions over the performance of pacer James Anderson.

Anderson looked quite rusty and was not seen producing the swing he normally does. However, Lee said that one should not be critical of Anderson as it was the first match for England after a very long time.

Brett Lee

"He (Anderson) is one of the best bowlers in the world in terms of pacers so I don't think we could be too hard on him. Maybe he did not have the best match but he is still a real asset to England," Lee said.

Lee played 76 Tests, 221 ODIs and 25 T20Is for Australia, managing to take 718 across all formats.

Along with Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar, Lee was viewed as one of the fastest bowlers to ever play the game.