I wonder why no one thought of it before: using the trouser as more than just a piece of cloth to protect one’s modesty. The kiwis have hit on it, high-tech bowlers' trousers, specially designed to put shine on the ball, and Dipak Patel springs the second surprise of his life. (The first, lest you start thinking the 1992 World Cup, is having managed to have played at the apex level in the first place.)
The more interesting mention, as published in this cricinfo story is the introduction of the IonX BaseLayer performance underwear which is claimed to improve performance by 2.7%. The performance of the balls, I suppose.
From a cricketing perspective, the more sobering sound byte in the story comes from Patel himself.
"When I came into cricket I was surprised to find there are no regulations about what materials you can and can't use."
The game seems to be setting itself for controversy, considering the number of gaps it offers for misinterpretation. Not so long ago, there was an MCC debate and decision on the use of graphite in cricket bats. And quite some time back, a certain famous personage tried an aluminium bat, didn’t he?
So what is the next performance-enhancing accessory likely to be? A Velcro surface on wicket-keeping gloves perhaps? (Did I hear Kamran Akmal nod enthusiastically?)
5 comments:
So, does this mean that the Kiwis will be playing Testes Matches from now on?
I thought it strange that Patel dropped the abrasive patch because he didn't want to contravene 'the spirit of cricket' ....when I think it would be clearly illegal, unless ball tampering is another underwear issue :-))
And yes, it was Dennis Lillee with the aluminium bat,which allowed him to throw it further when told to stop using it :-))
I think there is a technicality, Alan. If you have a rough patch on your clothing (as opposed to a separate item like a bottle cap or dirt in the pocket), it may not contravene the letter of the law, just the spirit. I may be wrong, but I think that's what Patel's referring to.
This is not the first instance of such 'out-of-the-box' thinking from NZ Cricket. It is to deflect discussion on cricketing matters. They can't line up a decent eleven. So they look at 'peripherals'!! Also, it is the Black Cap influence.
Btw, read how Wimbledon deals with such 'colorful aberrations'!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/4088298.stm
Didnt the Indians wear clothing that was lighter, conducted sweat better and cooled the body as well during WC 2007?
The engineer mentioned in the cricinfo article is not Dipak Patel the Kiwi offspinner from the nineties but another guy named Dipal Patel. Note the L.
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