Australia speedster Josh Hazlewood has reacted to the saliva faux pas by England cricketer Dominic Sibley during the fourth day of second Test against West Indies at the Old Trafford in Manchester.
Before the start of the 42nd over of the West Indies' first innings on Sunday, umpire Michael Gough was seen unwrapping a tissue and he rubbed it on both sides of the ball.
It was later revealed that Sibley had inadvertently applied saliva on the ball and the home side brought the matter immediately to the umpires, who went ahead and sanitised the ball.
"It's a pretty natural habit... it's just such a reaction to see a spot on the ball that needs fixing and you go and put some saliva on," Hazlewood was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
"You've been doing it since five years old, so it will take a while to break the habit but obviously conscious of it on the field."
Hazlewood also spoke about the prospect of teh 13th edition of the Indian Premier League clashing with Australia's domestic season and also with their national duty. Hazlewood is part of a number of Australian first-team players, who ply their trade in all three formats and also have IPL deals in the kitty.
"As long as we can train during that period it will be okay, it's if we come back and we can't train during that two-week period," Hazlewood said. "We've built these loads up as fast bowlers then two weeks really hurts us coming into a summer of Test cricket.
"As far as red-ball ball cricket goes I feel I only need one, maximum two games, to get ready for a Test. There have been summers where we've come from a white-ball tour and only played one (red-ball game) and it's been fine.
"Everyone is a bit different, some guys need a bit more bowling and some less but we'll try to get that balance right," he added.
