Australia captain Steve Smith has admitted that his side deliberately tried to tamper with the condition of the ball on the third day of the third Test against South Africa at Newlands yesterday in an orchestrated attempt to gain an advantage.
Cameron Bancroft has been charged by the International Cricket Council and Smith told reporters that it was a deliberate plan from the “leadership group” of the side, but added he would not step down as captain.
“The leadership group knew about it, we spoke about it at lunch,” Smith said. “I am not proud of what has happened. It’s not in the spirit of the game, my integrity and the integrity of the team has been damaged and rightfully so. It’s not on and it won’t happen again, I can promise you.”
Bancroft was spoken to by on-field umpires Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth regarding a small yellow object that television footage appeared to show him take out of his pocket before shining the ball. He was then shown putting the object down the front of his trousers. Bancroft turned out his pockets and showed the umpires a black piece of cloth and play continued.
The officials chose not to change the ball or penalise his team the statutory five-run on-field penalty for illegally changing the condition of the ball. Although the umpires appeared satisfied with Bancroft’s explanation on the field at the time and allowed play to continue, match officials could review other footage. Ball tampering is a level two offence in the International Cricket Council’s code of conduct, which could result in a ban for any player found guilty.
Reverse swing has been a major part of this series, and players can increase that by roughing up the ball with foreign objects, which is strictly prohibited in cricket.
Ball tampering has been an issue raised throughout Australia’s tour. In Port Elizabeth, Warner was highlighted for the impact of the bandages on his hand – the result of finger injuries suffered while batting – on the ball, and on day one in Cape Town Australia bowler Pat Cummins inadvertently stepped on the ball.
After the first Test in Durban Australia’s coach, Darren Lehmann, said both sides would try various “techniques” to get the ball to reverse swing.
“Obviously, there are techniques used by both sides to get the ball reverse and that’s just the way the game goes,” Lehmann said after the Durban Test. “I have no problems with it, simple. You’d have to ask the umpires and ICC about that one [whether it is legal]. I don’t mind the ball moving, I have no problems with it at all.”
Former players were quick to react to the incident on social media, with South African-born former England captain Kevin Pietersen accusing Lehmann of being involved in the plan.
Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith, speaking on Sky Sports, was very clear in what he thought Bancroft was doing and also implicated Australia’s captain Steve Smith and coach Lehmann in the incident.
“He’s tampered with the ball and used an object to do that,” he said. “It does look like it’s a bit of sandpaper. The footage doesn’t look good. I’m quite amazed the umpires haven’t done anything with the ball. The footage is quite damning.
“If it is proved that what has gone on in the footage is correct then some tough questions have to be asked of Steve Smith and Darren Lehmann. A lot of questions that need to be answered and Australia need to answer them.”
Fellow pundit Shane Warne also said he believed the issue went higher than Bancroft. “I feel a bit for Cameron Bancroft because I don’t think he’s taken it upon himself to do something and put it in his pocket,” said Warne.
 “Who’s told him to do that? It’s important to find out that. I think we’ve got to get to the bottom of why that has happened and what was it. You’ve got to own up. You’ve been caught, you’ve got to own up and say what was it you were hiding. You can’t have that in the game.” The Bancroft incident was the latest in a string of contentious moments in the series. On Friday, the Australians lodged an official complaint with their South African hosts over what they called the abusive behaviour of home fans in Cape Town. Lehmann said several of his players had been verbally abused by the crowd, abuse which included references to the players’ families. Lehmann called the fans’ behaviour “disgraceful” and Cricket South Africa ordered an increased security presence in the crowd yesterday. That included police officers.
Out in the middle, Aiden Markram’s 84 helped South Africa increase their lead to 294 at the close of play yesterrday. Markram was out just before tea but AB de Villiers passed 50 as South Africa ended the day on 238-5. Earlier, Kagiso Rabada wrapped up Australia’s first innings for 255 by dismissing Josh Hazlewood to finish with four wickets.