Glenn Phillips alleged of using saliva on ball against Bangladesh

Glenn Phillips was caught using saliva on the ball in the first Test of the series against Bangladesh in Sylhet. On the Third day of the first Test, Phillips was found using saliva in the 34th over of the match. As of now, there has been no action taken yet on the bowler. It is interesting to note that even the on-field umpires did not take any action against Phillips for the usage of saliva.

It was also revealed that Bangladesh was well aware of the fact that Phillips had applied saliva on the ball. Nafees Iqbal, the Bangladeshi manager, claimed that they saw the video proof of the incident and informed the same of the umpires. The on-field umpires Paul Reiffel and Ahsan Raza did not take any action against the fielding side over the incident. 

For unknowns, the usage of saliva has been banned in cricket following the breakdown of COVID-19. The move was made to avoid any complications over the spread of a potential COVID breakdown in any of the bio bubbles in cricket dressing rooms. The rules were amended in October 2022, when the usage of saliva came to be known as an illegal practice in cricket. 

Amended law over the usage of saliva

Law 41.3 was introduced on the 1st of October 2022. It states that "When cricket resumed following the onset of Covid-19, playing conditions were written in most forms of the game stating that applying saliva to the ball was no longer permitted. MCC's research found that this had little or no impact on the amount of swing the bowlers were getting. Players were using sweat to polish the ball, and this was equally effective."

The latest laws do not support the usage of saliva on balls. It also confirms the fact that the bowlers can no longer use methods like eating sugary sweets that can act as an alternative method for the usage of saliva. In that regard, the usage of saliva is deemed to be an unfair method of changing the shape of the ball.