Is ball tampering just not cricket?

WHICH poses the greater threat to the future and morality of cricket: ham-fisted Australians scratching the ball, in full view of millions of TV viewers (Mail); or bowlers aiming the ball — at 95mph — at the heads of batsmen, enthusiastically applauded by team-mates, spectators and commentators?

GORDON WILSON, Derby. I AM a cricket aficionado and believe transgressions should be dealt with evenly. When a player admitted delivering deliberate no-balls at the behest of his captain for a betting scam, he was banned from first-class cricket for five years. The Australian ball tamperers have got off lightly. S. WHEELER, Birkenhead, Merseyside.

ROUGHING up one side of a cricket ball to make it bend in flight could benefit the sport. Balls with a rough and smooth side would increase the skill required to play the game at the top level.

JIM JACKSON, Glasgow. WHY are people so upset about a few dodgy cricketers? People cheat in sport, politics, business, school and in love. PAUL CHARLES COOK, Huddersfield, W. Yorks.

THE Aussies are only sorry for cheating because they’ve been caught. The way to stamp out cheating would be lifetime bans.

DAVID McCABE, Milton Keynes, Bucks. I REMEMBER the days when cricketers would groom their greased hair and then frantically rub one side of the ball on their flannels before each delivery. Everyone knew it was to gain an advantage, but it was ignored. Imagine such ball tampering at Wimbledon and in the golf Open Championship? To beat ball tampering, the International Cricket Council could change its rules so that after each delivery, the ball is inspected by the umpire.

DAVID SAPSED, Aldwick, W. Sussex.

AUSTRALIA has promised to root out the cheats, but all it is doing is scratching the surface.

J. W. SCULLY, Bognor Regis, W. Sussex.