Cricket's authorities are sounding off about abuse of the two main pieces of equipment - the bat and ball.

The International Cricket Council is up in arms over the reaction to their official inquiry about Ricky Ponting?s bat, allegedly reinforced by a carbon graphite strip, while the England & Wales Cricket Board and their umpires are upset about claims that ball-tampering is rifet.

Australian captain Ponting and his bat manufacturers say it is all a load of balls, but is it? Not if recent comments from the ICC are to be taken seriously about the investigation they will hold at their next official meeting in Dubai in two weeks? time.

As for the widespread ball tampering revealed by former Gloucestershire left-arm new ball bowler Mike Smith at a recent meeting of the umpires, the ECB and the Professional Cricketers? Association are animated at what they term an ingenuous leak by an umpire and have asked for an apology from the Umpires? Association.

The ICC first and that ? super bat? of Ponting. The statement says ?The ICC has not cleared the newly-designed bat and has only given temporary permission for it to be used pending the advice of the MCC and the ICC Cricket Committee, which is chaired by former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar.?

In a letter to the manufacturer on March 16, the ICC advised ?pending the completion of the review, it will allow the bats to be used in international cricket.?

Chief executive Malcolm Speed added: ?We are growingly increased with issues surrounding the way in which bats have been ?enhanced? by manufacturers.?

Then comes the bombshell.

?During the World Cup in 2003, a number of oversize bats were discovered. The manufacturers were warned they must meet their responsibility to ensure bats comply with the laws, but we are particularly concerned with the practice of ?corking?.? [illegally doctoring bats by drilling a hole through it and introducing an outside substance]

?We are consistently getting reports of bats being corked, which is why one of the implications is that we may need to be able to see the whole of the blade clearly from all angles, to see if it has been tampered with.?

Speed gives another mouthful to Ponting?s agent and the manufacturer for saying that the MCC should not be examining new designs. ?Both have chosen to make inaccurate and disparaging comments on the role of the MCC in protecting the laws and spirit of the game,? he said.

Heavy words, as are these: ?The issues with the current bat may be resolved, but that does not change the fact that the last thing the sport wants is the equivalent of golf?s titanium driver being introduced without proper discussion. Changes in equipment have the potential to dramatically affect the way in which a game is played.?

Regarding the apparent Smith whistle-blowing on ball tampering, he spoke by invitation to advise umpires on spotting the difference between normal wear and tear on a ball and instances when its? condition might have been deliberately altered. It seems that he considered artificial shining of the surface nowhere near as culpable as roughing it up.

The difference is this. Once a ball is roughened and small pieces taken out ? in the past, by bottle tops and other gouging tools and now by use of emery paper hidden under a wrist plaster ? it becomes imbalanced in weight, rather like the bias in a crown-green bowl.

Both forms of tampering are designed to make the ball swing in the air. There is much less skill in swinging the roughened ball because the position of the seam can vary several degrees in its flight-track, but will still swing in the last few yards once the weight imbalance takes effect.

The art of swinging a shiny ball is more complex, needing a good hand and wrist action, but what seemed to shock the authorities was Smith?s list of enhancing substances such as vaseline ? remember the allegations against England and Essex left arm pace bowler John Lever in India? ? hair gel and sweets, which apparently give saliva an extra polishing quality.

Former England captain Michael Atherton was quoted as saying: ? I knew we had an inexperienced 12th man when he brought out the drinks and chewing gum. The trouble was that the gum was unsweetened!?

Why the ball issue is much less serious than that of the bat is because most English first-class umpires are former players and have a head-start in the poacher-turned-gamekeeper stakes. They know what can go on, hence the regular checking of a ball. If it sticks to their hands, they know someone has been using sugar from their sweets to shine the ball.

The ball is changed immediately, five penalty runs are awarded to the batting side, and the suspects reported.

The row is a pity, because county cricket has got off to its brightest and most widely reported start in many years, mainly because England?s leading cricketers have been allowed to play.

In particular, Warwickshire have benefited from the presence of Ashley Giles and Durham from that of Steve Harmison. It will be a different competition when they disappear back to the House of Fletcher.