The Anil Kumble-led ICC Cricket Committee on Monday recommended banning the use of saliva to shine the ball during cricket matches amid COVID-19 pandemic.
The ICC Cricket Committee recommended changes to ICC regulations to mitigate the risks posed by the COVID-19, and protect the safety of players and match officials, the international cricket body said in a statement.
During a meeting over a video conference, the committee also pushed for the appointment of non-neutral umpires and referees for all international matches.
The recommendations of the Cricket Committee will now be presented to the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee in early June for approval.
"The ICC Cricket Committee heard from the Chair of the ICC Medical Advisory Committee Dr Peter Harcourt regarding the elevated risk of the transmission of the virus through saliva, and unanimously agreed to recommend that the use of saliva to polish the ball be prohibited," the ICC statement said.
"The Committee also noted the medical advice that it is highly unlikely that the virus can be transmitted through sweat and saw no need to prohibit the use of sweat to polish the ball whilst recommending that enhanced hygiene measures are implemented on and around the playing field," it added.
On the appointment of non-neutral Umpires and referees to international matches, the committee recommended that local match officials be appointed in the short-term given the challenges of international travel with borders being closed, limited commercial flights and mandatory quarantine periods.
As per the current regulations, all match officials - match referee, two field umpires, third and fourth umpires - must be appointed by the ICC for Test matches. In ODI matches, one field umpire and the fourth is appointed by host nation while only match referee is appointed by ICC in T20s.
Since 2002, officials appointed by the ICC must not be from the same country as the participating teams.
"Given the challenges of international travel with borders being closed, limited commercial flights and mandatory quarantine periods, the Committee recommended that local match officials be appointed in the short-term," the ICC said,
"The appointments will continue to be made via the ICC from local Elite and International Panel referees and umpires. Where there are no Elite Panel match officials in the country, the best local International Panel match officials will be appointed," it said,
The Committee also recommended that the use of technology is increased to support the appointments of a wider pool of umpires from around the world and has proposed an additional DRS review per team per innings is introduced in each format as an interim measure.
“We are living through extraordinary times and the recommendations the Committee have made today are interim measures to enable us to safely resume cricket in a way that preserves the essence of our game whilst protecting everyone involved," Kumble said.
