Mukal wants to know the Law,

"I have heard quite a bit about ball tampering. What exactly is classed as tampering?"

Of course, you can "tamper" with the ball legally. It's called looking after the ball so it swings for longer. Rather than changing the condition you are just trying to stop the condition deteriorating.

So designate a "shiner" who knows how to keep sweat off the ball and keep one side shined (legally).

However, adding anything to the ball to shine it up further is strictly against Law 42.3. There is talk of professional players using sweets to get a better shine, but there is little proof that this tactic actually works and if you get caught you face big trouble.

The same applies for trying to rough one side of the ball to make it swing more. You hear of it happening with bottletops, fingernails and throwing the ball on the bounce but it is very shady, an unproven dark art, and clearly against the Laws of cricket.

So if you are going to alter the condition of the ball, make sure you do it as well as possible within the Laws. It just makes more sense because you know it works. Anything else is a high risk lottery.