Chennai: The name of former England cricketer John Lever might not instantly ring a bell in the minds of the current generation. But those who followed the game in the 70s, especially in India, always associate him as a central figure in international cricket’s first-ever ball tampering controversy. Interestingly, it was in Madras (as Chennai was then known) where the then Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi accused Lever of tampering the ball using vaseline.
On Thursday, the opening day of the England-India Test here, John sat along with the public in the terrace stand, the same area that carried a banner reading “Cheater Lever go home.”
“There was a huge banner that had the names of Tony Greig and me emblazoned on it. I was in Mumbai recently and I was asked ‘Did Greig apply shoe polish to the ball?’ Never heard that one before! However, I
always wanted to come back and see the place again. I was looking forward to this tour,” Lever laughed.
Lever said he didn’t lose any sleep over “the fact that the allegations were false”. “The allegation was that vaseline was used in the first game (in Delhi) where I took a lot of wickets. The actual material (a vaseline-impregnated gauze) we got was bought in Chennai, when it was brought here by our physio to prevent the trickling sweat enter the eyes. It was impossible for anything to go on the ball in those early games. So I didn’t worry about the allegations.”
The contentious strip of gauze was even sent to a forensic laboratory for analysis and Lever said the results, to this day, have never been published. “The ball was also taken away and it was analysed. It was proved to have saliva on it, normal things you find on the ball. It was a normal situation where people say he has been caught putting something on the ball and other things like that. You just have to live with it. There are so many cameras now that will make it easier to catch. During our playing days, there were not so many cameras which was a shame because that might have helped prove my innocence,” he added.
Was it disappointing that he has always been associated with the incident? “I thought it was put to bed after that. I went from India to Australia after that and there was nothing said out there. The only thing disappointing was I played county cricket for nine years and it was my first chance to play for England and to have allegations of cheating wasn’t great,” said the 67-year-old.
Lever said he had met Bedi in England a few years after the incident and the two shook hands. “During a charity match, he came up to me and I told him we are a bit too old not to be talking. We shook hands. It would be silly not to talk to each other and we were quite happy with each other since then,” he added.
Recently, South African Faf du Plessis faced sanctions after he was found to have used a sugary substance to shine the ball in Australia. Lever believes Faf was guilty.
“I think he was. You could see from the visuals. It was very obvious to see and he should have just said I was doing that. I don’t know how he could deny it. Just plead guilty and take a smack on the wrists. There is always going to be something that people will try to shine the ball with. Saliva has always been okay. People used to chew gum a lot more than what they do now. This has happened for a long time. But players are getting cleverer and go out with all sorts of things in their pocket.
They get bored out there sometimes,” he said. When asked whether ball-tampering must be legalised, John said: “I played in England when you were not allowed to shine the ball. And it produced some very boring cricket. Shining the ball and swinging it is an art, the same as people who could spin the ball and bowl it really quick.
Not everyone can do that. Fred Truman used to apply lots and lots of Bryll cream on his hair and that used to go on the ball. There will always be something and this helps keep the balance between bat and ball. Otherwise batters are on top and nothing ever happens. Altering the state of the ball by scratching | it, kicking the seam …all those things have gone. I think the balance is just about right.”
