Ballgate backlash
Australian media insist Anderson in the wrong Umpires said it was ‘fine’, counters England coach
Bayliss hits out after row over ball-tampering takes shine off England’s fighting performance
Trevor Bayliss dismissed Australian allegations of ball-tampering by England as “beat-up” stories and “pommie bashing” after footage emerged of James Anderson appearing to dig his nail into the ball.
Bayliss claimed the umpires told him there was nothing in the suggestions, first aired by commentators on Channel 9 and then picked up by other sections of the Australian media.
The match referee, Ranjan Madugalle, confirmed after play both teams had been warned about scuffing the ball up by deliberately throwing it to the wicketkeeper on the half-volley but there were no reports of ball-tampering.
“It is a ‘beat up’. As soon as I saw the headlines I raced into the umpires. The words they used were it was a ‘beat up’ and that it is absolutely fine,” said Bayliss.
“That is as much as I know. You are allowed to clean the ball. Kumar [Dharmasena, umpire] said to both sides that he has no problem cleaning the ball but he would like them to do it in front of umpires so they can see nothing untoward is going on. There is a bit of dirt and mud on the outfield that does get on the ball and the seams and you are allowed to clean it off.
“If he [Anderson] was trying to scratch it, he was scratching the wrong side. I am sure that is not the case. We’ve had a good couple of days and there hasn’t been too much positive press from their [Australia] point of view. It’s a bit of pommie-bashing. You’ve got to laugh it off and put up with it.”
Stuart Broad picked a piece of leather off the ball with the permission of the umpires. Nine then broadcast a freeze-frame image of Anderson looking as though he was picking the ball with his left thumb. “I’m not sure you are allowed to use your fingernail there,” said Shane Warne on commentary. Michael Slater said: “That’s interesting, you can’t get your nail into the ball. That’s a no-no.”
Mike Hussey, another ex-australian cricketer working for Channel 9, predicted trouble for Anderson with the match referee. “It didn’t look great, to be honest.
Might be a little bit of a ‘please explain’ there for Jimmy Anderson.”
When asked about their comments, Bayliss’s response was to point out they also may have done something similar in the past: “I haven’t heard what they said but they were players once too.”
The story was picked up by several media outlets in Australia, including the news arm of Cricket Australia’s official website.
England asked for the articles to be removed online and headlines using the emotive phrase of ‘ball tampering’ were toned down, but it was still featured prominently on Channel 9’s news bulletin at the end of play on day four.
On Twitter Mitchell Johnson stirred the pot by asking how England were able to extract reverse swing after only 10 overs and Mitchell Starc’s wife, cricketer Alyssa Healy, suggested Anderson could be in trouble on a day when Australia were under more pressure on the field than at any stage so far in the series.
Bayliss is one of the most laidback coaches in world cricket but he knows how a ball-tampering row erupted in Australia last year when South Africa captain Faf du Plessis was caught on camera rubbing saliva on the ball while sucking a sweet, and wanted quickly to check with the umpires if there was anything going on.
“The umpires spoke to both captains about throwing the ball into rough areas,” he said. “Every team in the world does that. The umpires just don’t want it to go overboard. Both teams have taken it on board. I had seen some headlines on Channel 9 news. They [the umpires] must have seen it. Kumar said, don’t worry, there is absolutely nothing in it. And his words were it was a beat up, and nothing wrong with it.”
The ball-tampering allegations fall a little flat when it is noted that Anderson was supposedly digging his nails into the polished side of the ball. A bowling team would want to rough up the other side to increase the likelihood of swing through the air.
On a tour, however, that has included butts, beer throwing, a match-fixing story and sledging, ball tampering was about the only news story still waiting to happen. Footage on BT Sport showed Joe Root sucking sweets before polishing the ball but with the match referee clearing his team of ball tampering, it is a row that should blow over quicker than most of the incidents on this tour so far.