What IS ball tampering?

SCUFFING or scratching one side of a cricket ball interferes with its aerodynamics and makes it harder for the batsman to hit it cleanly.

This process, during which the other side of the ball is kept shiny, helps to make it move from side to side – or ‘swing’ – through the air.

Cricketers have been caught using bottle tops, spikes, fingernails and dirt to illegally alter the condition of the ball.

In this case, Australian Cameron Bancroft used a piece of yellow tape covered in dirt to rub the ball.

Polishing the ball on your clothing is allowed if no artificial substance is used, as is drying a wet ball with a towel that has been approved by the umpires, or removing mud from the ball under an umpire’s supervision.

If umpires believe the ball has been altered illegally, they can change it and award five penalty runs to the batting side – although this did not take place in Cape Town.