Without getting too scientific about it: the more scuffed and rough one side of the ball is, the more turbulent the air that passes by when it's in flight. That then forces the ball to move in the opposite direction to where it's supposed to be.

So a bowler will bowl with a grip and seam position that will make the ball move away from the batsman (outswing), but because one side is so rough, it moves towards the batsman instead (inswing) - hence the name "reverse swing".

Conventional swing will stop happening as the ball gets older and harder to polish, so teams rely on reverse swing instead (which is much harder for batsmen to predict by looking at the bowler's grip and seam position). But reverse swing is difficult to accomplish without tampering with the ball by intentionally damaging it.

Just about every team in cricket will discretely try to rough the ball up, usually by bouncing the ball in instead of throwing it to someone's hand. Players might tread on the ball with their spikes as well while fielding. It's only really obvious incidents - like using tape - that get punished.

Tbh, Smith and Warner's punishment is in a direct proportion to the outrage rather than the level of offence. Ball tampering is punishable by a one game ban in the rulebook, but people were angered that a captain knowingly cheated and I guess Cricket Australia had to put their foot down.

S wrote:

ffs

They are manhandling him all the way to the flight like he gunned down a bunch of people or something

I am not particularly a fan of him at all but this is pretty sad to see tbh. Feel for him at this moment.  The 1 year ban was really harsh on him too. Banned from IPL as well. Maximum punishment any player has got for ball tampering is a 2 match ban but i guess Australia just want to set a precedent for anyone looking to bend the rules.

just looks like the police are protecting him from the reporters and other people that might be there to abuse him.

Where is Warner though?

Lehmann resigned

wow

Good

It's all really shocking. I still don't know why was he punished so harshly. Two or three games ban would have been sufficient imo.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/22961057/sanctimony-steve-waugh

Really couldn't happen to a nicer team TBH.

What were Warner and Bancroft's particular suspensions?

Both Waugh brothers were utter pos back in the days lol.

El Gunner wrote:What were Warner and Bancroft's particular suspensions?

1 year for Warner

9 months for Bancroft

Following England Vs Pakistan Jay?

Quite a terrible day. This pakistan team is virtually unrecognisable but still managed to do this well. Do you rate stoneman? Seems more like an ODI player to me. Never rated Malan. No idea why he keeps getting these chances.

Hasan Ali seems like a very promising bowler. Remember him impressing before too.

Pakistan have good bowlers and for some reason we decided to bat first on a green wicket in muggy, overcast conditions. I'm still trying to work out why Root thought batting first would be a good idea.

Same old problems, unfortunately. We can't find a good partner for Cook, who remains the only batsman in the team who actually knows how to play test cricket. It took a worldie delivery from Essex legend Mohammed Amir to get him out, which is how it should be. Everyone else comes in, scores an attractive 30, then *bleep* off (if they even get that far).

It's actually a problem in County Cricket at the moment as you see low scores everywhere. There just aren't enough batsman around who know how to hang around to get the big scores. We're seriously screwed when Cook retires.

It's early days for Stoneman so I'm happy to give him time. Malan is meant to be a big hitter down the order and part of that group with Stokes and Bairstow that's supposed to accelerate, but it's a tough ask when the four guys above you get out for less than 100 runs.

Yea the lack of test batsman is apparent with the same names popping up all the time in squads. I was reading about the toss. Apparently they assumed pitch will get dry later on. But don't think they considered the possibility that it might not matter much lol. There seems to be a lack of adaptability. Most players don't really suit test cricket. I don't know why that is. With how big county cricket is, you would think they will specially coach these players with that. Seeing the highlights, some of these shots are hilarious. They don't belong in test cricket.

I do think Root will end up being an all time great for England though. Only one who is immune to criticism.

But saying all that, it's only the first day. Always a possibility of a quick change and a collapse by pakistani batsmen

Day 2 seems to be worse than day 1. Maybe rain might save England but I don't see it. But then it could have been a lot worse.

Also reading people calling Root a poor captain. Maybe being the best player doesn't mean he is the best captain?

Root

lol forget this

Viewing some highlights on YouTube

So England amass the highest total in ODI cricket ever and also achieved their largest victory margin in their history. Were they playing Australia or Zimbabwe ?! Jeez how bad have Australia become

From last night's Roses game.

Domestic cricket in England in 2018. pic.twitter.com/GIrpwR8i6u

— Henry Moeran (@henrymoeranBBC) July 20, 2018

Wish every cricket ground had the same atmosphere as Old Trafford. Was a fun night.

Are you following the test series ? @RG , @Jay ?

What an absolute letdown. A 5-0 whitewash is incoming. Remove Kohli and this team is Bangladesh level.

Cook's final test hundred.

https://streamable.com/gnhf7

Cook's been my favourite player for about a decade. He came into the team just when I was getting into cricket and I've followed his whole international career since. Never the most fluent or attractive batsmen to watch, but had amazing resilience. Even when out of form, nobody in this current England team comes close to his mental strength.

Played the most tests for England, scored the most centuries, scored the most runs, 5th highest run scorer of all time, highest scoring left-hander of all time, won two Ashes series as captain... GOAT Glad he'll keep playing for Essex.

Now we need to find two new openers for Sri Lanka because Jennings sucks lol.

Swear Malinga retired like 10 years ago ffs

England just got smashed by the Windies. Wow. Series win ffs.

Re-birth of Windies cricket ?

Back to back, and resounding too, wins and still no euphoria from @Doc

West Indies been "rebirthing" for like 12-15 years now, I'll start the heavy gloating when we actually make this a consistent thing. That being said, I am gonna assume this was a feeling those who watched WI Cricket in the 80s probably felt. A feeling of ridiculous joy.

Loved it. And against England too.

I'm happy for the Windies, honestly. It's been a while since they've enjoyed a big Test series success and I hope that's the start of something because cricket really needs another strong team.

As for England, well, maybe this philosophy of being super aggressive and proactive is backfiring now. Too many players in the side go in with a "hit out or get out" mentality which might work on flat pitches but will never work in bowler friendly conditions. No one in the side is prepared to stay in and graft their way to a 400 ball hundred or something. The one guy who could do that, even when his form was crap, has just retired.

The problem we've got is that county cricket is now full of guys who just want to be aggressive and score quickly. The best no. 3 batsman last season was James Vince (averaged 60) but he's flopped every time he's played test cricket. This is how we end up with a no. 6 batting no. 3 and a middle order full of wicket keeper batsman who all want to bat 5, 6 or 7.

We'll probably win the Ashes though. Home advantage and all.

This West Indies team is legit.

For England...said this before but Root needs to step down from being a captain. Rest of the England team is just brainless. Some of the shot selection lol...