Anderson, Broad tampered with the ball, says Gul

Pakistan fast-bowler claims to have seen England’s pace duo alter its condition.

In what could be another thorn in relations between the two countries, fast-bowler Umar Gul has claimed to have seen England counterpart James Anderson tamper with the ball when Pakistan toured England last year.

Gul, who led the Peshawar Panthers to the semi-final of the Faysal Bank Twenty20 Cup recently, also said that he saw Stuart Broad “roughing up the ball” during the Ashes series.

“I saw Anderson do it last year when we went to England,” Gul told reporters after Peshawar went down in the semi-final. “Then in the Ashes series Broad was seen roughing up the ball with his boots. All these methods are part and parcel of the game to obtain reverse swing with the old ball.”

Gul unruffled by Akhtar’s confession

The 27-year-old’s claims follow Shoaib Akhtar’s revelations in his autobiography ‘Controversially Yours’ where the former fast-bowler has admitted to have altered the shape of the ball and also called for ball-tampering to be legalised.

But Gul said that Akhtar’s remarks will not put Pakistan bowlers under pressure. “Pakistan bowlers have been accused of tampering in the past as well but there has been no evidence,” said Gul.

Gul and Mohammad Asif, who is banned over spot-fixing charges, were in the limelight when Australian umpire Darrell Hair docked five runs against Pakistan for tampering with the ball during the Oval Test against England in 2006.

Then Pakistan captain Inzamamul Haq staged a walk-out over the tampering allegations and forfeited the match – the first in Test cricket since its start in 1877.

Pakistan were cleared of the tampering charges but Inzamam was banned for four One-Day Internationals (ODI) for bringing the game into disrepute. Gul was again in the limelight after he took five wickets against New Zealand in the World Twenty20 held in England in 2009.

“There are many ways to tamper with the ball that are illegal, like using your nail, but there are other ways to change the condition that are legal.

“A player can throw the ball on the bounce to make it rough or the ball can be damaged when it hits the advertising boards on the boundary,” he said.

“I think a lot of bowlers scratch the ball and get reverse swing. If you see, England bowlers reverse swing the ball regularly.”

Disagrees with Akhtar’s stance

But Gul disagreed with Akhtar’s stance on ball-tampering.

“I don’t think it should be legalised. Leave cricket with its traditional ways rather than making changes that would take all the charm out of it. Reverse swing is an art and a lot of bowlers now do this.”

Meanwhile, the paceman was hopeful of getting into shape for Pakistan’s series against Sri Lanka in UAE later this month.

“I am bowling regularly and hope to get into my best shape against Sri Lanka,” said Gul.

Gul has so far taken 125 wickets in 35 Tests and 134 in 90 ODIs in addition to 47 in 34 Twenty20s. (WITH ADDITIONAL INPUTS FROM AFP)

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2011.