LONDON, Aug 23: Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer has called for the scrapping of the law against ball-tampering in cricket. Woolmer targeted law 42.3, which prohibits rubbing the ball on the ground or interfering with any of the seams or the surface of the ball.

"Law 42.3 is an ass, brought in because of ball-tampering with razor blades and bottle tops in the past," he said.

"But that's been shoved out of the game now. I'd scrub out the law completely."

“Every single bowler I know from the time I played in 1968 to 1984 was guilty, at least under the current law,” said Woolmer in an interview with the Guardian.

He added that he held his view long before his bowlers were accused of breaking the rule.

"I'd allow bowlers to use anything that naturally appears on the cricket field," he continued.

"They could rub the ball on the ground, pick the seam, scratch it with their nails — anything that allows the ball to move off the seam to make it less of a batsman's game."—Agencies