DAVID LLOYD: Ball-tampering, pah! Just leave Jimmy Anderson be

By David Lloyd
Last updated at 12:07 AM on 07th January 2010

Jimmy Anderson, to me, is guilty of no more than the equivalent of driving at 35 miles per hour in a 30 mph zone.

Yes, according to the strict letter of the law, he was in the wrong judging by the TV pictures we saw yesterday but to me it is no big deal and the ICC are right not to punish him. He was certainly not driving recklessly, as it were, at 90 mph.

I think the whole subject of ball-tampering is exaggerated in our game. There are far bigger issues than a bowler just trying to slightly assist the process of roughing up one side of the ball to gain reverse swing.

The worst excesses of ball-tampering, traditionally, have centred around picking the seam and that has virtually been eradicated now, not least because the Kookaburra ball used in many countries around the world virtually has no seam at all.

Caught on camera: Anderson with the ball

There are 32 television cameras being used by three different companies in this Test match and the players are acutely aware that anything they do will be picked up by at least one of those cameras.

So Anderson will have felt that he was doing nothing wrong, even if the pictures seem to show him scratching the ball. To me, what he was doing was doodling with it. You still have to be a very skilful bowler to make the ball swing.

Umpires, whatever people think, are not stupid and I used to be one. The correct way to deal with something like this is what I understand exactly happened. The umpires had a word with Andrew Strauss just to remind him that they should inspect the ball at all times and that if a piece of leather protrudes then they have to deal with it, not the bowler. 

Wrist slapped: Anderson in full-flight

In effect Anderson had his wrist slapped by the umpires and that is the end of the matter. As it should be. It has gone on forever and it is no more serious that that.

This issue has blown up because a local television director presented a DVD of footage to the South African team management and they stirred it up by making it public without making an official complaint.

People have asked me if a bigger fuss would have been made if a Pakistani had done what Jimmy did but I certainly wouldn’t have complained. People like Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram were highly skilled performers, as Anderson is too. Leave him alone. Case closed. Get on with the game.

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