Storm as Aussies admit to cheating
But skipper Smith refuses to resign
AUSTRALIA captain Steve Smith has admitted cheating after a ball-tampering plot blew up in his face in Cape Town yesterday.
Opening batsman Cameron Bancroft, caught red-handed by TV cameras, admitted attempting to alter the condition of the ball on day three of the third Test against South Africa, before Smith sensationally revealed that the team’s senior players had hatched the plan during the lunch break.
Bancroft was charged by the International Cricket Council with ball-tampering before he and Smith were forced to issue grovelling apologies while facing a hostile media immediately after the end of the day’s play.
Smith insisted it had never happened before under his captaincy and was adamant that he would not be resigning.
‘The leadership group knew about it,’ he confessed. ‘We spoke about it at lunch. I am not proud of what’s happened. It’s not within the spirit of the game. My integrity, the team’s integrity and the leadership group’s integrity has come into question. It won’t happen again.
‘It’s not what the Australian cricket team is about. I am incredibly sorry for trying to bring the game into disrepute.’
The incident took place during the afternoon session and was picked up by TV cameras.
A small, yellow object was seen in Bancroft’s hands after he had worked on the ball, the opener later revealing it to be a piece of tape covered in dirt.
He was later captured taking it from his pocket and placing it down his trousers, a few moments after being spoken to by the substitute Peter Handscomb, who had come onto the field after speaking to coach Darren Lehmann via walkie-talkie.
‘Once I was sighted on the big screens I panicked quite a lot and that resulted in me shoving it down my trousers,’ said Bancroft.
Although the two on-field umpires, Richard Illingworth and Nigel Llong of England, questioned Bancroft at the time, he produced what appeared to be a black sunglasses bag from his right pocket in way of explanation, and clearly in a bid to deceive the officials.
No action was taken at the time — the umpires could have changed the ball or docked Australia runs — but match officials, including referee Andy Pycroft of Zimbabwe, were able to review TV footage of the incident.
Bancroft revealed: ‘We had a discussion during the (lunch) break and I saw an opportunity to use some tape, get some granules from the rough patches on the wickets and change the condition — it didn’t work, the umpires didn’t change the ball.’
Smith continued: ‘It was a poor choice and we deeply regret our actions. The coaches weren’t involved. It was purely the leadership group who came up with this. We saw this game as such an important game. We’ve seen the ball reversing through this series and this ball didn’t seem like it was going to go. It’s such poor actions. Deeply regrettable.
‘I am embarrassed. I know the boys in the shed are embarrassed as well. Being the leader, I am incredibly sorry. If we weren’t caught, I would still regret it.
‘I won’t consider stepping down. I still think I am the right person for the job. Today was a big mistake on my part and on the leadership group as well. I have to take control of the ship. This is something I am not proud of. It’s something I hope I can learn from and come back from. I am embarrassed. It is a big error in judgment.’
Smith said he understood that there would be doubts over whether or not his side had used these tactics earlier in the series, but said: ‘You can ask questions as much as you like but I promise you this is the first time it has happened.’
Bancroft will get a ban for his actions and added: ‘I don’t think I was coerced. I was nervous about it because there are hundreds of cameras around. Unfortunately I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I am accountable for my actions as well. I’m not proud of what has happened.’
The ball-tampering row is just the latest incident in an ill-tempered series.
Earlier in the Test, Australia opener David Warner was confronted by a spectator as he returned to the dressing room after being dismissed.
Lehmann later criticised the ‘disgraceful’ verbal abuse directed at his players and their families by the South African crowd and Cricket Australia sent a letter of complaint to Cricket South Africa.
Following the first Test, Warner and South Africa’s Quinton de Kock were charged by the ICC after an altercation.
South African pace bowler Kagiso Rabada was then banned for two matches after being found guilty of deliberately making contact with Smith during the second Test, but successfully appealed.