“The key finding is that prior knowledge of the ball-tampering incident was limited to three players – captain Steve Smith, vice captain David Warner and Cameron Bancroft”.
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Fairfax Media even claimed that Warner could have been the primary instigator with Smith simply agreeing to play a part since the southpaw was usually the team’s ball manager, which in the third Test of the ongoing four-match series was taken over by Bancroft.
After the admission to ball tampering, Smith was charged 100 percent of his match fee, stripped of the captaincy and slapped with a one-match ban while Bancroft was charged 75 percent of his fee, along with 3 demerit points for ball tampering.
Lehmann, a no-nonsense former player under whom Australia’s test side has gained a reputation for pushing the limits of sporting acceptability, would continue in his position under his current contract, Cricket Australia’s CEO added. After initially denying any wrongdoing, Smith and Bancroft owned up to ball-tampering and were consequently sanctioned by the International Cricket Council.
“Time Paine has been officially appointed captain of the Test team”, he added.
After the match was over, Steve Smith admitted to the tampering.
“Iain Roy and Pat Howard arrive in Cape Town this morning local time, and Iain will immediately conduct his inquiries around the specifics of the ball tampering incident”, Sutherland said.
He bungled it, however, and was seen on TV trying to hide the piece of tape down the front of his pants afterwards.
It has caused numerous past players to question the efficacy of the ICC in stopping serious acts like ball-tampering. It is not a good day for Australian cricket. Probably not. But given the centrality of sport in Australia and the poor example that Smith has set, it is unlikely that one of the world’s finest batsmen will ever captain his country again.
“I said earlier on, that if they could get reverse swing in the 26th, 27th, 28th over then they’re doing something different from what everyone else does”, de Villiers, who is working for a South African broadcaster, was quoted as saying by RSN radio.
South Africa, meanwhile, take a 2-1 lead into the final Test starting in Johannesburg on Friday. “It was not in the laws of the game and not in the spirit of the game”.
“This is deeply disappointing and certainly not what anyone expects from our national cricket team”, airline Qantas, whose logo is on the team shirts in South Africa, told AFP in Sydney.
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“Clearly there are going to be some pretty severe sanctions for the three guys; they are being exiled, sent home straight away”, he said. If the ball gets muddy, they can clean it under supervision or ask for a change of ball.
