The Pakistani cricket team were arguably the first to come under scrutiny, when they were together in 1992 accused of ball-tampering to achieve large amounts of reverse swing. However, no evidence of wrongdoing was ever found in that series. Because of these allegations, in 1996, Imran Khan sued Ian Botham for slander and libel in a British court, and was awarded £400,000.
Then England captain Michael Atherton was accused of ball tampering during the a Test match with South Africa at Lord's in 1994 after
television cameras caught Atherton reaching into his pocket and then rubbing a substance on the ball. Atherton denied ball tampering, claiming that he had dirt in his pocket which he used to dry his hands. Atherton was summoned to the match referee and was fined £2,000 for failing to disclose the dirt to the match referee.
Waqar Younis became the first player to receive a suspension for ball-tampering after a match in 2000.
In January 2004, India's Rahul Dravid was fined after he rubbed a half-eaten lolly onto one side of the ball during an ODI. Such instances of using sweetened saliva are not uncommon, as many players claim that the sugary saliva caused by eating confectionery is more effective in polishing the ball than normal saliva. Marcus Trescothick claimed in his autobiography that England's players achieved their prodigious amounts of reverse swing in their successful 2005 Ashes series against Australia by using saliva sweetened by eating mints.
Similarly, some believe that greasy hair products and sunscreen, can mix with perspiration and the resulting oily liquid is more effective in polishing the ball.
Ball tampering - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
