 Trescothick reveals secret behind England's Ashes triumph
25th Aug 2008 17:02 IST
Agencies
In a shocking revelation, former England opener Marcus Trescothick has admitted that during the 2005 Ashes series he has used an artificial substance to shine the ball.
Trescothick in his recently published autobiography, "Coming Back to Me" wrote that the secret behind pacers Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones' virtually unplayable reverse swing deliveries during the series was a special brand of mints, 'Murray Mints'.
"I was firmly established as the man in charge of looking after the ball when we were fielding," Trescothick was quoted as saying by "The Australian" in his autobiography.
"It was my job to keep the shine on the new ball for as long as possible with a bit of spit and a lot of polish. And through trial and error I finally settled on type of spit for the task at hand," he added.
During the 2005 Ashes, the English pacers ability to reverse the ball early in the innings led to the downfall of the Australian top order. Jones and Flintoff regularly swung the ball in the first 20 overs, which ultimately played a vital role in England's triumph over Australia.
Trescothick, who retired from international cricket earlier this year, wrote that he experimented with mints until he found the right brand.
"It had been common knowledge in county cricket for some time that certain sweets produced saliva which, when applied to the ball for cleaning purposes, enabled it to keep its shine for longer and therefore its swing.
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