Players used to cope with it.

As I said right at the start, this was the position until the 1960s, if not later.

Clearly, there are limits to the condition the ball is allowed to get into. Taking lumps out of it is fairly obvious.

The consequences of altering the ball often used to come back to haunt the fielding side. If they went too far and it just became a soft pudding, they'd then get tanked around for a long time.

If you want to look at some of the discussions on this, try to look up some of Boycott's writings. He's in favour of changing the laws for the same reasons I am. Ttry umpiring it or try to take wickets on a flat pitch with no assistance from the ball. In both cases, it's extremely difficult.

Posted By: InTheAbsenceOfAHorse, Aug 23, 11:21:07