'Sandpapergate' only part of the story behind reverse swing's decline

NEW DELHI, Nov 13 : The art of reverse swing is fading from test cricket, but fast bowlers and coaches say fear of punishment after the 2018 'Sandpapergate' scandal explains only part of the decline.

The affair, which cost Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft lengthy bans and heavy fines, cast its shadow over Australia again this week when Usman Khawaja revisited it in his autobiography.

Reverse swing occurs when an ageing ball, rubbed glossy on one side and roughed up on the other, bends late in its flight towards the polished face. It is the opposite of conventional swing. Producing it takes pace, ideally above 135kph, along with a strong wrist and a stable seam. 

Pakistan's Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were its undisputed masters, wielding it to devastating effect in the heat and dust of the subcontinent during the final decades of the 20th century.

Former Australia coach Justin Langer recently argued that 'Sandpapergate' had all but killed the craft by frightening players away from "preparing" the ball.

"I don't agree with that," former India player TA Sekar, a bowling guru at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai who has shaped the careers of Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan, told Reuters.

"There are many reasons why overall the ball is swinging less these days - not just reverse swing. And it takes more than just a strip of sandpaper to generate reverse swing."

BALL PREPARATION

Former South Africa paceman Dale Steyn explained what it does take.

"In order to get the ball to reverse swing, there needs to be a certain amount of work that is done on the ball," the 43-year-old told Reuters.

"Whether you're throwing it in the dirt (or) a wicketkeeper is turning it in his gloves to get the one side roughed up, whether bowlers