Overview
- Dawid Malan set out the idea on BBC Test Match Special’s Strategic Timeout, urging cricket to let players legally scratch the ball to bring back reverse swing.
- He argued the shift would give bowlers more options at the death and produce tighter finishes rather than routine chases.
- Malan stressed strict limits by banning outside substances, even as current laws still classify scratching the ball as illegal.
- Coverage linked his remarks to a recent PSL case in which Lahore Qalandars batter Fakhar Zaman was penalized five runs and handed a two‑match ban for altering the ball.
- Reverse swing, which relies on one side of the ball being rough so it moves late in the air, has become harder to produce in modern white‑ball cricket due to frequent ball changes and flatter pitches.