Barry Richards calls for 'legalized ball tampering' to counter dominance of batsman

South African batting legend Barry Richards has advocated the need to bring in a slew of reforms in the sport, including legalized ball tampering, in order to reduce the dominance of batsman and make it an even contest between bat and ball.

Suggesting legalized ball-tampering as a measure, Richards said that reverse swing is an art, adding that the bowlers should be allowed to rub the ball in the dirt if they wanted as not all bowlers could produce reverse swing, News.com.au reported.

Concerned over the dominance of batsman in the sport, Richards further said that the pressing of cricket bats also has to be controlled and the thickness in their edges.

Richards added that all he wanted was a 50-50 contest, which it was not now.

Earlier this year, South African skipper AB de Villers hit the fastest one-day hundreds off just 31 deliveries against the West Indies.

Last year, India's Rohit Sharma slammed the highest score in ODI cricket, 264 from 173 balls against Sri Lanka in Kolkata.