ON October 25th, during a cricket match against Pakistan, Faf du Plessis of South Africa was filmed repeatedly rubbing the ball on the zip of his trouser pocket. As punishment he was docked half his match fee, his team was penalised five runs and the umpires ordered the ball to be changed. The only other time in the history of the sport that a team has been formally reprimanded for "ball-tampering" was in 2006 when the umpires ruled that Pakistani players had doctored the condition of the ball during a game against England. The Pakistan team, in protest, refused to return to the field after a tea break and forfeited the match. How, and why, do players tamper with cricket balls?
