Tape Ball
The Tape Ball is a tennis ball used for playing street and yard cricket. The authenticity of sports equipment is created by wrapping it with electrical tape, which affects the projectile’s mass, speed, tactile sensation, and aerodynamics. The result is a “rewound” tennis ball, from which came its name – tape ball.
The improvised cricket ball is extremely popular in Pakistan, where locals use it for amateur play. Also, this sports equipment has become widespread in South Asia due to its availability.
The first mention of the tape ball dates back to 1960 when this makeshift equipment replaced cricket in the poorest region of Pakistan, Karachi. However, over the years, equipment gave reason to develop an unofficial version of the game – “tape ball cricket”. Fun fell in love with its versatility and accessibility among children, adolescents and adults. Over time, unconventional cricket conquered South Asia and India.
It should be understood that this modification of the ball is used in informal meetings as an alternative. Among the main features of the tape ball, one can single out the projectile’s weight, which, due to the dense winding with electrical tape, turns out to be more massive than a cricket one and practically does not bounce off the ground. Weight also affects its aerodynamics and safety, so many people mistakenly believe that imitation of a cricket ball looks harmless.
Tape ball became famous in Pakistan, which affected the growing popularity of the game among young people, who then begin to get acquainted with this sport and the most cultural of cricket, in general. However, the International Official Cricket society did not award the tape ball cricket with a forest assessment. Therefore the direction of the sport did not receive financial support from among the leading countries in this discipline, such as India and Sri Lanka.
True, this does not confuse fans of an unconventional type of game, who are ready to hold game seasons for almost two hundred participating teams in parallel with the official ones. The influence of the tape ball cricket was so strong that it won the respect of even top players like Saeed Anwar, Rashid Latif, Asif Mujtaba, Moin Khan and Basit Ali.
Among others, we can also mention the 2005 Ashes Series, in which representatives of the London Community Cricket Associate taught children the basics of cricket using a tape ball. The matches were played in a Twenty20 format, so the games were short-term but according to the generally accepted rules.
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