Cardiff (England), Oct. 1: Injured England paceman Simon Jones has mounted a passionate defence of the mysterious art of reverse swing.

The Glamorgan paceman proved himself as one of cricket’s great reverse swing bowlers last summer when his devastating wicket-taking spells helped England snatch the Ashes.

But the ball-tampering row in the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at The Oval in August has led to some commentators questioning the legality of the delivery.

"People who say reverse swing is not possible without ball-tampering obviously know nothing about cricket," Jones told the Western Mail. "Have they ever bowled with a ball that’s reversing? Have they ever bowled with a normal ball? If people make big statements they should be able to back them up.

"But I ignored those stories because I know what I did was legal. I would never do anything outside the laws of the game. And, anyway, how could you get away with scuffing the ball? In the Ashes series there was something like 40-odd cameras on the ground. You’d be picked up straight away if you tried something."

He also hit back at those in the game who insist that his talent for reverse swing was honed by his contact with Pakistan great Waqar Younis who played at Glamorgan in the 1990s. "When I did talk to him we spoke about bowling, not reverse swing," said Jones. "It’s taken me a long time to develop it. I did a lot of work in Australia with Troy Cooley (former England bowling coach) and that’s where I first learned it. I was able to swing it conventionally but then I struggled with the older ball.

"You don’t need the ball to be in a big state for reverse swing. It will go if it’s just a little scuffed up. At Old Trafford (where he took Test-best figures of 6-53 against Australia in 2005) it went massive. The square was so rough that the ball was old after 17 overs.

"There’s no need to tamper with the ball, it will reverse swing because of the condition of the ground. No problem. It’s all above board."