TREV LOSES HIS TAMPER
TREVOR BAYLISS dismissed ball-tampering allegations aimed at England as “Pommie bashing”.
And he insisted he received assurances from the umpires that there was no case to answer.
Pictures of Jimmy Anderson cleaning the quarter-seam of the ball with his fingernail in front of the umpires was claimed to be underhand by Australia TV channels. Former Aussie
star Shane Warne suggested Anderson’s use of the nail would “get people talking” and another ex-Test star Mike Hussey said he could have “explaining to do”.
An angry Bayliss said: “As soon as I saw the headlines I raced in to see the umpires and they said it was ‘a beat up’ (made-up) story. That was their words and Kumar [Dharmasena] said, ‘There is nothing to worry about’.
“We have had a good couple of days and there has been a lot of positive pressure from their point of view, so there’s been a bit of Pommie bashing there. We are used to that, though. We knew when we came here it was going to be 24 million versus 11, but we just have to laugh it off as part of the game.”
A spokesman for the ICC match referee confirmed both captains, Steve Smith and Joe Root, had been spoken to by the umpires for deliberately trying to scuff up one side of the ball when throwing back in to the keeper on the bounce.
Dirt
Bayliss said: “You’re allowed to clean the ball.
“Kumar has said to our guys that you’ve got no problem cleaning the ball, but he’d like them to do it in front of the umpires, so they can see there’s nothing untoward going on.
“Kumar said there is a bit of dirt and mud out there and it does get in the ball and into some of the seams, and you are allowed to clean it off.
“With regard to scuffing the ball up, the umpires spoke to both captains about throwing into the rough areas.
“But every team in the world does that.”
The post-match row was the only highlight on the day England’s bid for an unlikely fourth Test victory was stalled by the weather, with only 44.5 overs possible.
Anderson fell to the first ball of the day, leaving Alastair Cook on 244, and the eighth Englishman – and first since Michael Atherton in 1997 – to carry his bat.
England managed just two wickets, Cameron Bancroft playing on from Chris Woakes and Usman Khawaja edging Anderson behind before Smith and David Warner dropped anchor to reduce the Aussies deficit to just 61.