Caught Out - Shocking Revelations of Corruption in International Cricket. Brian Radford
England player, and presumably the entire management, would have known that a pocketful of mints was being used to try to change the course of the Ashes by changing the condition of the ball, and it was incredible that they all managed to keep it under wraps right through to the end without anyone letting the secret slip.
It was long after England’s triumphant Ashes series that Trescothick eventually confessed, in his candid autobiography Coming Back to Me, though it must surely have crossed his mind that a revelation of this magnitude might just help to sell a few extra books.
Opening up in his customary full-blooded manner, Trescothick admitted: ‘I was firmly established as the man in charge of looking after the ball when we were fielding. It was my job to keep the shine on the new ball for as long as possible with a bit of spit, and a lot of polish.
‘And through trial and error I finally settled on the type of spit for the task at hand. I had a go at Murray Mints and found they worked a treat. It was common knowledge in county cricket that certain sweets produced saliva which, when applied to the ball for cleaning purposes, enabled it to keep its shine for longer, and, therefore, its swing.’
Trescothick, seemingly fully supported by his captain Michael Vaughan and the rest of England’s management, was illegally altering the condition of the ball, and so breaching one of cricket’s strictest rules.
Law 42, Subsection 3, states categorically that any fielder may polish the ball, provided no artificial substance is used and such polishing does not waste time. Any fielder may also remove mud from the ball under supervision of an umpire, and any fielder may dry a wet ball with a towel.
But it is ‘unfair for anyone to rub the ball on the ground, interfere with any of the seams or the surface of the ball, use any implement, or take any other action whatsoever which is likely to alter the condition of the ball’. Law 42 further stresses that it is the responsibility of captains to ensure that play is conducted within the spirit and traditions of the game.
Umpires are expected to check regularly that the ball has not been scuffed with a fingernail or sharp object, and that illegal substances such as sugar from sweets, lip balm or hair gel have not been applied to it. Pace bowlers regularly use spit and sweat to help the ball swing. It is a legitimate method of polishing the ball, as is rubbing the ball hard against the thigh.
Players tamper with cricket balls specifically to achieve more favourable bowling conditions. In England’s case it was to enhance the shine for its four seam specialists – Flintoff, Jones, Harmison and Hoggard – and the experiment evidently played a substantial part in the ball swinging so violently. Flintoff captured 24 wickets in the series, followed by Jones (18) and Harmison (17).
Once Trescothick had let his explosive cat out of the bag, shocked Australian newspapers displayed headlines such as ‘England cheated to win Ashes’ and wrote that: ‘England’s ability to get the ball to reverse swing early in the Australian innings regularly led to the downfall of the top order. Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff regularly swung the ball inside the first 20 overs.’
As Trescothick had publicly confessed to sucking the sweets, the International Cricket Council (ICC), the game’s governing body, had to respond responsibly when challenged and could not brush the matter aside as simply gossip and rumour, even if it wanted to.
The ICC has acquired a disappointing reputation for keeping controversial issues as low key as possible, often to avoid potential conflict between cricket-playing nations, which is fantastic news for anyone thinking of breaking the rules and wondering what type of punishment he would get if caught. Maybe a rap on the knuckles, if he happened to be unlucky!
In Trescothick’s case, an ICC spokesman said: ‘According to the laws, this is illegal. But we won’t outlaw sucking sweets. It depends on the evidence and circumstances, so if something is brought to our attention it would be dealt with. But where do you stop, for example, if you try to stop everyone who is chewing gum?’ He promised that the matter would be investigated should it be ‘appropriate’.
As Trescothick, Vaughan, Flintoff, Hoggard and the rest of England’s belly-laughing squad did not think it wise to queue up to give evidence, yet another rule-breaker walked away without facing a single question.
In addition to scoring stacks of runs for Somerset, the aggressive Trescothick amassed 5,825 runs in 76 Test matches, and a further 4,335 runs in 123 One-day Internationals. He retired from international cricket in March 2008, but committed himself to continuing his career with Somerset, and captained them in 2010.
Australia won the opening Test of the 2005 series by 239 runs at Lord’s, with Kevin Pietersen on top form as England’s highest scorer in both innings, hitting 57 and 64 not out. Steve Harmison emerged as England’s best bowler, bagging 5-43 and 3-54, and cut Australian captain Ricky Ponting on the cheek with an absolute flyer. One memorable delivery from Matthew Hoggard swung between Matthew Hayden’s bat and pad and knocked back his off stump.
England’s hopes of quick revenge soared even before the start of the Second Test at Edgbaston when Australia’s legendary pace bowler Glenn McGrath tore ankle ligaments when accidentally standing on a cricket ball while playing rugby in the match warm-up.
Michael Kasprowicz was called in to replace McGrath, but he didn’t possess the star bowler’s guile or control, and England took full advantage by hammering 407 in the first innings, brilliantly led by Marcus Trescothick who clattered 90 runs, including nine boundaries off a lacklustre Brett Lee.
Australia responded well with 308, England then grafted to 182, and Australia were asked to score 282 for victory that would secure a two-match lead and a huge psychological advantage.
Despite a fusillade of short-pitched bowling from the fired-up Flintoff and Harmison, just two runs were needed for victory when last man Kasprowicz faced yet another vicious bouncer from Harmison, which he tried desperately to fend off. The ball flew down the leg side, and the athletic Geraint Jones flung himself towards it, held it, and appealed so loudly that he was probably heard in Birmingham city centre.
Umpire Billy Bowden, the flamboyant, gesticulating New Zealand official, had the unenviable responsibility of deciding whether Kasprowicz’s bat had touched the ball on its way through to Jones. The short, agonising wait for Bowden’s decision seemed to last many minutes. The tension grew and gripped. Finally he raised his crooked index finger, his unique trademark that all batsmen dread, and Kasprowicz was given out and England had scraped home by an incredible two runs in a breathtaking finish.
Even then, justice had not been done. Film footage suggested – and that is very much a euphemism – that Bowden, so rarely wrong, had slipped up this time and that the ball had struck Kasprowicz’s glove while it was not on the bat handle, making it technically not a legitimate catch. England’s two-run triumph was the narrowest in Ashes history.
The Third Test ended in a meaningless draw at Old Trafford, so it was now crucial for England’s management ‘think tank’ to mastermind a vital victory in the next battle at Trent Bridge beginning on 25 August. England were entering this Test at 1-1, and knowledgeable commentators were already predicting a ‘no result’ on the traditional Oval flat bed in the final encounter in early September. The reality was that, if England did not succeed at Trent Bridge, it was hugely likely that this pulsating series would end all-square, with Australia retaining the Ashes, and England having nothing to show for their exceptional skills.
Over the years, Trent Bridge pitches had acquired a reputation for greatly helping seam and swing bowlers, and Nottinghamshire county cricket club, which played there, had always taken full advantage by importing the best bowlers from all over the world to exploit these conditions, including New Zealand star Richard Hadlee and South Africa’s brilliant Clive Rice.
England had the perfect ‘swing’ quartet to make the Aussies dance! Surely there was no better anywhere in the world than Harmison, Hoggard, Flintoff and Jones to get the right tune from this pitch. Not to mention Trescothick, the marathon mint-sucker, secretly licking his lips and ensuring that the ball retained a shine bright enough for captain Vaughan