Australia will not allow the use of saliva or sweat to shine the ball once cricket training resumes in the post Covid-19 world, says a framework released by the federal government regarding the staged return of sport.

There is speculation that use of saliva to shine the ball will be stopped to cut down the risk of the infection with reports suggesting that the ICC is considering the possibility of allowing the use of artificial substances to polish the red ball under the supervision of umpires.

The framework, which outlines a staged return to play, has three stages — Level A, Level B and Level C.

Restrictions, currently at the strict “Level A”, will soon be moved to “Level B” which will allow the following: “Nets — batters facing bowlers. Limit bowlers per net. Fielding sessions — unrestricted. No warm up drills involving unnecessary person-person contact. No shining cricket ball with sweat/saliva during training.”

The third and final “Level C”, to be permitted later in the year, is outlined as: “Full training and competition. No ball shining with sweat/saliva in training.”