Coach: Pitches the problem

– Australia coach Justin Langer (above) claims there is a worldwide problem with ball-tampering, partly due to unresponsive pitches, while vowing it will never happen under his watch.

The former Test opener, appointed when Darren Lehmann quit in the aftermath of a cheating scandal in South Africa this year, has been working to fix the team’s behaviour and earn back respect.

He said he was shocked when he learned players had taken sandpaper onto the field to deliberately alter the ball in the third Test in Cape Town.

But he said it was not an isolated issue.

“I can’t understand for a single second how we took sandpaper out on the field. That doesn’t make any sense to me,” he told former team-mate Adam Gilchrist in an interview for Fox Sports on Wednesday evening.

“What I do know though is that the issue with people ball-tampering is going on internationally. That’s a real worry.”

Then-captain Steve Smith, his deputy David Warner and opening batsman Cameron Bancroft all received lengthy bans for the plot to cheat, with Lehmann also standing down.

An independent review into the scandal, released this week, blamed an “arrogant” and “controlling” culture overseen by governing body Cricket Australia, with a win-at-all-costs mentality.

“I think there’s a couple of issues,” he said. “One is I think we need to get the pitches right around the world, so the ball does move whether it spins or swings.

“But to go to the point we did was a huge mistake.” –

Sydney