Cook: Silicone tape issue 'rubbish', move on

Cricket365
August 11, 2013

England captain Alastair Cook has tried to make as little comment about the silicone tape issue as possible, saying he didn't want to give any more coverage to something that was 'rubbish'.

Accusations from an Australian news channel said that players had been putting silicone tape on their bat edges to fool Hot Spot, and both sides have reacted with fury, saying it would hinder them in LBW appeals if they did that.

Cook told Australian journalists: "Clearly there are some people at home trying to think up some theories. All this stuff about silicone edges, obviously that's a whole load of rubbish.

"Players have been using tape on their bats for years to protect the bats and make them last longer. The whole story needs to be rubbished because it was rubbish. I don't want to give it any more miles."

There were reports that the ICC had sent Geoff Allardice to Durham to speak to players about the accusations, but the ICC have denied this, saying he went there to discuss DRS in general, and not the silicone tape questions.

ICC chief executive Dave Richardson said: "Geoff Allardice is meeting with both teams and umpires to see how we can best use the DRS and the available technology, going forward in the next two Test matches. It has nothing to do with any players."

As for the DRS process itself, which has seen a few mistakes over the first three Tests, Cook feels the system is a good one overall and calls for it to be dropped are premature and reactionary.

He said: "I don't know whether it's just Ashes cricket and something always seems to happen … it has worked really well in the past and the bottom line is it has been getting more decisions right.

"Obviously at the moment there have been a few quirks in it that decisions that we thought would be changed haven't been changed and vice-versa. That's why I think both sides are getting a little bit confused by it.

"Some clear nicks haven't shown up on Hot Spot. It has been strange and we just can't quite work out why it's happening. But like all these things there are always big evolutions and hopefully the technology can get it right."