Following criticism from India captain Shubman Gill and former England pacer Stuart Broad, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will collect as many used balls as possible and return them to the company that manufactures Dukes balls by the end of the week.
'The players can criticise my cricket ball. Can I criticise them for the bad shot or the bad ball? Long hop. You know what I mean? You've got to be sensible.'
Ponting called for an investigation into the ball change and now the owner of Dukes' ball is set to launch an internal probe into the row.
Polishing one side with sweat and saliva has been used by fast bowlers to alter the aerodynamics of the ball but the International Cricket Council banned the use of saliva this month to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The Dukes were introduced to the Sheffield Shield in 2016/17 to help prepare Australia's batsmen for the ball used on English pitches in the leadup to the 2019 Ashes.
The ball moved enough in last week's Southampton Test between England and West Indies to erase any lingering doubt about swing bowling under cricket's COVID-19 protocols, manufacturer of the Dukes ball said.
'I remember walking up to him and telling him, "Sambhal ke khelna".'
368 of James Anderson's 575 Test wickets have come on home soil, where the Dukes ball has been the default during his long career.
Consistent death bowling from a Bumrah and spinners picking up wickets in the middle overs is why the average run-rate in the last few years hasn't exploded the way one would have expected, says Dhruv Munjal.
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