Abstract: A liner for a ball joint in, for example, a gear selector lever, comprises an annulus (10) of plastics material having a spherical inner bearing surface (12) for engaging a ball element (1) and an outer surface (11) for mounting in a recess in a housing. One, and preferably each, end of the annulus is axially slotted (15) to form tongues (16a,b) which can be deflected radially to dilate the end of the annulus, allowing the ball element (1) to be inserted. Some tongues (16a) having a spherical inner surface (17a) forming part of the bearing surface (12), others carry radial projections (18) on their outer surfaces for engaging a radial cavity in the housing recess to retain the ball element (5) therein. The internal surface of those tongues (16b) is spaced from the spherical bearing surface to allow the assembled ball element (5) and liner (10) to be pushed into the recess.