P353 CEEFAX 353  Tue 30 May  19:18/24
                               
      CRICKET: ATHERTON DEFENDS
               'BALL TAMPERING'
 
  England captain Mike Athjuton has   
  called for ball tampering to be     
  legalised - within reason.          
                                      
  Athjrton, at the centre of the      
  'dirt-in-the-pocket' affair last    
  summer, makes his views known in    
  his new book.                       
  
  He says: "I am not alone in         
  thinking that the laws should be    
  changed to allow certain actions    
  which the players tacitly accept as 
  part and parcel of the game.        
                                     
  "I'm talking about the use of a     
  fingernail to scratch the ball, not 
  bottletops or those sour of things" 
5-,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.
  M/Sport  Ljic/WEnd K nt-Midd Glo5-Some