Joe Root has been hailed as "ingenious" by the legendary David Gower for coming up with a unique way to shine the ball during the first Test between England and Pakistan in Rawalpindi.
Root was seen shining the ball on spinner Jack Leach's bald head, with Gower, Nasser Hussain and Urooj Mumtaz laughing at Root's actions in the commentary box. "It's ingenious, absolutely ingenious because you're no longer allowed to use saliva [to shine the ball]," Gower said.
"Tests have apparently proven that sweat is much more effective at shining a ball than saliva. But I've never actually thought of using that particular [method] as a way of sourcing the shine!"
