Let People Scratch the Ball: England’s Dawid Malan Urges Cricket to Legalise Controlled Ball Tampering

NEW DELHI — England batter Dawid Malan has ignited a fresh rules debate by proposing that cricket formally allow a limited, supervised form of ball tampering to revive reverse swing and rebalance the contest between bat and ball.

Speaking on the BBC podcast Strategic Timeout, Malan argued that because players have clandestinely scuffed or altered the ball for decades, administrators should acknowledge the practice and regulate it rather than maintain an outright ban. “Historically, over the game, people have been caught trying to tamper with the ball for years. You know it’s not a new thing. I actually think you should legalise it, like just let people scratch the ball,” he said.

The 36-year-old stressed that any legalisation must exclude external objects—no bottles, bottle tops or foreign substances—yet permit minor, skillful manipulation by the fielding side. “It’s a skill in itself—to get the ball to reverse swing,” he added.

Malan’s central concern is the dwindling assistance for bowlers in the death overs, a phase he labels “the hardest overs to bowl.” Stricter policing of ball condition, frequent ball changes and batter-friendly surfaces have combined to make reverse swing a rarity, tilting contests decisively toward batsmen who, in his words, “are so skilled now.”

By allowing controlled abrasion, Malan believes sides could again make the old ball hoop late in an innings, tightening finishes and reducing one-sided chases. “I think it would make cricket a lot more bowler-friendly towards the end, if you can get the ball reversing,” he explained. “It wouldn’t just be winning with six wickets in hand.”

The suggestion frames ball maintenance not as cheating but as a legitimate tactical avenue, aligning law with on-ground reality and giving bowlers a counter-punch in an era of power-hitting dominance.