Former Proteas pacer tipped off cameraman

Cape Town, March 27: Twenty- four years ago Fanie de Villiers dismantled an Australian cricket team with a sensational spell of swing bowling. Now he has emerged as one of the key figures in exposing the current Australian side as ball tamperers.

De Villiers told an Australian radio station that he had tipped off the camera crew that caught Cameron Bancroft rubbing the ball with a piece of yellow tape which the batsman then tried to conceal.

“We actually said to our cameramen: ‘ Go out. Have a look, boys. They are using something.’ It’s impossible for the ball to get altered like that on a cricket wicket where we knew there is a grass covering on. It’s not a Pakistani wicket where there are cracks every centimetre. I said earlier that if they could get reverse swing in the 26th, 27th, 28th over, then they are doing something different.”

According to De Villiers, it took the cameramen an hour and a half of searching before they caught Bancroft in the act.

The 26- year- old all- rounder has been in good form with bat and ball and could be a solid longterm pick. After a period of mediocre performances, he has now established himself as a near permanent fixture in the team. The son of former national coach Geoff, he has honed his leadership skills as skipper of Western Australia.

Usman Khawaja

An outsider, but the toporder batsman has plenty of experience and patience. Born in Pakistan, the 31- year- old has displayed composure at difficult times and shown his credentials as captain during a stint in charge at Queensland and on the Australia A tour of India in 2015.

Pat Cummins