acts that may alter the ball are permitted. A fielder may polish the ball as long as no artificial substance is used, remove mud from the ball under the supervision of the umpire and dry a wet ball on a towel. But no-one may rub the ball on the ground for any reason, interfere with any of the seams or the surface of the ball, use any implement, or take any other action whatsoever which is likely to alter the condition of the ball. If a player illegally changes the condition of the ball, the umpires replace the ball with another one with similar wear to the old ball before the ball tampering. The umpires also award five penalty runs to the opposing team and report the incident to the authorities to which the player is responsible. These authorities are then expected to take further disciplinary action against the player as appropriate. If there is a further incidence of ball tampering in the innings the same procedure is followed, but the bowler of the immediately preceding ball is banned from bowling further in that innings too if the tempering was committed by the fielding side. Distracting the opposition If a member of the fielding side deliberately distracts or attempts to distract the batsman on strike while he is preparing to receive or receiving a delivery, the umpire immediately declares the ball to be dead. The umpire also informs the fielding captain of the incident and awards five penalty runs to the batting side. The batsman may not be dismissed from the delivery, which must be repeated. It is also unfair for a member of the fielding side to deliberately attempt to distract or obstruct either batsman after the striker has received the ball by word or action. If this happens a procedure similar to the procedure for the first instance of ball tampering occurs, although the batting side also scores any runs that they have scored before the attempted (or actual) distraction or obstruction. The case of a batsman obstructing the fielding side is covered by Law 37 of the Laws of Cricket rather than Law 41. A batsman contravening Law 37 may be given out obstructing the field. Unfair bowling The bowling of fast short pitched balls may be judged dangerous by the umpire considering their speed, length, height and direction in relation to the skill of the batsman.