Sydney:Australia's players have been told to not use sweat from their head, face or neck during their six white-ball matches against England tour next month to reduce any risk of the COVID-19 virus being transmitted, according to Cricket Australia.
The International Cricket Council has banned the use of saliva to maintain the ball citing health safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has still been legal to take sweat from anywhere on the body and rub it on the ball.
It's believed the change is not an official ICC rule but based on medical advice from Cricket Australia to its players.
When the ICC announced the ban on saliva in earlier this year, it said sweat is still permitted because its medical advice showed "it is highly unlikely that the virus can be transmitted" that way, Cricket.com.au was quoted as saying.
This means the players will have option of gathering sweat from his back or stomach will be a common occurrence in the three T20s and three one-dayers starting from September 4-16.
Star paceman Mitchell Starc said he's unfazed by the further tightening of regulations for the upcoming white-ball games.
"It's probably not something that's too relevant in white-ball cricket. Once that new ball starts to go, you're trying to keep it dry anyway. It's more of a question for red-ball cricket," Starc said.
"No doubt we'll find out what it's like in these practice games and if we need to revisit some planning around it, I'm sure we'll have a chat before the series gets underway," he opined.
"I think we saw a bit during that England (Test) series, Jofra (Archer) using some sweat off his back and that sort of thing.
"If the world stays as it is for a little while, those restrictions will still be there. That saliva one will probably be around for a lot longer anyway," he said.
"It's one for the red-ball team to talk about when we get to that point, but at the moment we're pretty good," Starc added. (UNI)