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| Alastair Cook praised the spirit in which the series has been played |
Alastair Cook has dismissed allegations of ball
tampering against his England side as "a load of rubbish."
England's seamers used reverse swing to cut through the
Pakistan batting on the final day of the Edgbaston Test, claiming, at one
stage, four wickets for one run. It left England leading the four-match series
2-1 with only the Oval Test left to play.
Some news organisations in Pakistan have subsequently
broadcast footage of England in the field at Edgbaston and suggested that they
tampered with the ball in order to gain reverse swing.
Although that footage, particularly footage showing Joe Root
vigorously shining the ball, looked innocuous and the Pakistan camp have
dismissed the allegations, the story has rumbled on for a couple of days.
"It's a load of rubbish," Cook replied when asked
about the allegations. "Someone showed me the clip on Twitter of Rooty
shining the ball. It's just shining the ball, isn't it?
"Let's be honest. It's shining the shiny side of the
ball on his trousers. It's an absolute load of rubbish as far as I'm concerned.
It's so far-fetched that it's just nonsense. I don't think it will affect
anyone, it certainly hasn't affected our changing room."
Cook also expressed disappointment that the story might
overshadow what has been, until now, a good quality series played in fine
spirit between two well-matched sides. While previous encounters between the
sides have been tainted by various controversies - not least when some in the
British media made similar allegations against Pakistan players - this one has
been notably free of such issues.
"We've been talking about cricket for three Test matches
- for the first time in a series I've played against Pakistan," Cook said.
"And hopefully we'll be talking about the cricket - good or bad - at the
end of this next game.
"It's a little sideshow and hopefully it stays there.
Both sides should be commended for the way they've played so far."
Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan coach, confirmed that there had
been no complaints from his team to the match officials at the time or
subsequently and Misbah-ul-Haq also played down the allegations. Indeed, the
Pakistan captain suggested his bowlers could learn from the way in which
England cared for the ball.
"We don't just want to get into those things," he
said. "The game is over and credit should be given to the England team for
the way they bowled and got us out.
"That was a super spell by all
their bowlers, especially after lunch. That happened, it's gone and we have to
focus on the coming game. We should have played better.
"Reverse happens and sometimes on the last day it
happens because the pitch is so dry. There are right ways to roughen the ball.
You bowl cross seam, throw the ball from the boundary on the ground, you shine
it from one end and these are legal ways to roughen the ball. You care for the
ball and the team which does better it achieves reverse swing. This is an art,
a science and whole time you have to care for the ball.
"We have to carefully look at it so that our bowlers can
also achieve that. We have to take care of the ball and these days one or two
bowlers bowl cross seam so that you hit one side of the ball on the pitch, we
have to do that.
"England bowlers are experienced like Anderson and Broad
and know how to utilize that, they know the conditions. Our seam bowlers have
played less cricket so they have to learn that and care for the ball. We have
to gain that experience and concentrate on that.
"We were a little bit concerned, the way it just
happened just after the lunch, because it was not doing anything until the
fourth day and suddenly it started. But obviously the fifth day is different
and it could happen. The umpires are there, the match referees are there and I
am not there to check those things.
"I think they are very good bowlers and a very good
side. Especially Anderson and Broad. These bowlers know what to do especially
how to take care of the ball day, how to reverse it specially. There was
concern the way it just swung in that hour, but we are not taking anything
ahead of that."
The on-field umpires check the condition of the ball at the
end of each over and when a wicket falls. The TV umpire can also advice on the
basis of what they see on their screens. The ICC have confirmed that no
complaints were made by the umpires and that there is no on-going
investigation.
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