No action on Cook queries

CRICKET Australia’s cultural review of the men’s team will not investigate suspicions of ball tampering during the Ashes, aired by Alastair Cook.

The England star and former captain launched a grenade this week when he declared his side had suspected Australia of tampering with the ball during the deciding third Ashes Test in Perth.

Cook said he had no evidence to back up his claims, but his “curiosity” at how he felt Australia had reversed the ball in wet conditions reflects the dark stain the events in Cape Town has now left on the baggy green.

It has also lit the fuse for an absorbing encounter between the old enemies when they clash in a series of one-dayers in the UK in June.

Cricket Australia is preparing to draw up the scope and terms of the independent cultural review it has launched into the failings that led to one of the most damaging scandals in the game’s history.

But it has confirmed the examination won’t include a retrospective inquiry into whether specific acts of tampering have gone on in recent matches, including during the Ashes triumph.

The investigation immediately conducted by its integrity unit in Cape Town found that sandpaper gate was an isolated incident and the governing body is confidently standing by that position. Former captain Steve Smith had stated that he was unaware of any previous incidents of ball tampering.

South African players were suspicious of Australia’s work with the ball earlier in the series, hence the cameras were focused so closely on Cameron Bancroft in Cape Town, and Cook questioned what might have happened in the Ashes, though stopped short of making allegations.

“Certainly in Perth when the outfield was wet with rain they got the ball reversing,” he said. “I didn’t see anything.

“We have to be very careful, we were curious at certain moments but then we couldn’t get the ball up to 144km/h where they . . . could.”

But rather than poring through footage from past matches, the review will focus on cultural patterns.

On the day in Perth that Cook hinted at possible malpractice by Australia the home side needed only a handful of wickets to wrap up the Test match and the series.

England failing to bat out the final day was the expected result, and aside from a Mitchell Starc delivery that hit a crack and moved a mile, there didn’t appear to be anything remarkable. As Cook admitted, England’s bowlers failed to fire and Australia’s victory was comprehensive.