The former England opener Marcus Trescothick has admitted in a new book that he illegally shone the ball by sucking on breath fresheners during the 2005 Ashes series.
The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper says the unplayable reverse swing generated by pace bowlers Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff ---- may have been caused by the mints which, as with other artificial substances, is illegal.
In his autobiography Trescothick says it was his job to keep the shine on the new ball for as long as possible with a bit of spit and a lot of polish.
He says 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.
