Stuart Broad Replies To Indian Cricket Fan Who Asked About Ball Tempering: The second Test between England and India at Lord’s Cricket Ground ended up on a controversial note on Day 4 after pictures and videos of England players keeping the red ball under their shoes went viral on social media. A debate on ball-tampering has kickstarted on social media.
Though, this time it wasn’t sandpaper but fans believe that the act pulled off by the England cricketers is another way of ball-tampering.
In the video, two players – whose face was not captured in the footage – can be seen stamping the ball and rolling it around on the ground with their spikes. The incident took place in the 35th over of the innings, which was bowled by the England pacer Ollie Robinson. The video clearly shows how one player among them was inserting the spikes onto the ball.
The unidentified players in the video were most likely pace bowlers as they had spikes in their shoes. For the unversed, the shoes’ spikes can potentially change the ball’s condition.
As soon as the videos and images went viral, people on social media started making ‘ball tampering’ accusations on the England team. Many cricketers and experts also raised concerns over the issue on Twitter asking whether the ball-tampering is happening at Lord’s.
Ball tampering, eh? #EngvInd
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) August 15, 2021
Meanwhile, a tweet from a fan caught the attention of England cricketer Stuart Broad, who was ruled out of the ongoing series because of an injury. Stuart Broad provided an explanation as to what might have happened on the crease. He wrote:
“My comments are- Woody tried to nut meg Burnsy by tapping the ball through his legs (a very common occurrence) & he missed and kicked the ball there by accident. Instead of screenshotting the pic, watch the video- quite plain & easy to see”
Here, check out the Tweet:
My comments are- Woody tried to nut meg Burnsy by tapping the ball through his legs (a very common occurrence) & he missed and kicked the ball there by accident. Instead of screenshotting the pic, watch the video- quite plain & easy to see
— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) August 15, 2021
Replying to another Twitter user who asked “Was it intentional?”, Broad said that the act wasn’t intentional. He wrote:
“See my past comments. Watch the video. Of course it’s wasn’t.”
See my past comments. Watch the video. Of course it’s wasn’t.
— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) August 15, 2021
A Twitter user also pointed out that the fact that no match referee or the umpires stepped in to change the ball. He asked:
“Even if it wasn’t intentional, the match referee or the umpires should have stepped in and change the ball. Isn’t it how it should be done, Stuart?”
Responding to this, Broad said that the same could have happened if the ball was damaged. And since the ball didn’t make a mark, there was no need to change it. He wrote:
“Depends If it was damaged? Exactly the same if it was hit into the stands. If it didn’t make a mark, why change it”
Here, check out the reply:
Depends If it was damaged? Exactly the same if it was hit into the stands. If it didn’t make a mark, why change it ?
— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) August 15, 2021
