An unashamed disgrace: ball tampering cheats Australian cricket fans

It could be the darkest day in Australian cricket history. The nation’s men’s team has been caught red-handed, ball-tampering in the third Test of the tour in South Africa. Worst of all, Steve Smith admitted in his press conference afterwards that he had conspired with the most junior member of the team, Cameron Bancroft, to do so, as a way to “get an advantage” against the Proteas.

Extraordinary, unprecedented, and an unashamed disgrace. Whatever one thinks of cricket, integrity is written into the heart of this game. Australia has a history of coming down hard on nations perceived as, or caught, cheating, and its fans have every right to feel betrayed by its hypocritical national team.

Make no mistake, this was, as former captain Michael Clarke was unafraid to say on live television, “pre-meditated, blatant cheating”. Cricket fans will not stand for that, and Cricket Australia must act in accordance. All players involved must be sacked, but recognition must also be given to the fact that it was the most inexperienced player in the team – at just eight Tests – who was instructed by the leadership team to cheat.

James Sutherland fronted the cameras at the MCG this morning, a picture of raw emotion. He said he felt as all Australian fans would this morning, “extremely shocked and disappointed”. This was not just PR spin, he was visibly upset, his voice shaking towards the end of the grilling. This saga has cut him, and the integrity of Australian cricket, to the core, in clear breach as it is of what he described as not just the “laws, but spirit of the game”.

Still, he was measured in the midst of the outrage he too was feeling. He insisted that CA have a responsibility to understand the issue more deeply before any action could be mooted or taken. On that note, he specified that Iain Roy, Australia’s head of integrity, was on a plane to South Africa, set to land in the next day. His brief, Sutherland clarified, would be to gather the relevant information and understand better the situation that has unfolded: namely, who was involved and how deep the corruption runs.

The footage does Australia no favours. With Bancroft having been caught on television roughing the ball with tape, Darren Lehmann is depicted relaying a message to 12th man Peter Handscomb, who then enters the field to deliver a message to Bancroft. Subsequently, Bancroft is shown hiding the tape down his pants, before lying to on-field umpires that he was using only cloth. Panicked response or not, the Australians’ first instinct was to hide the evidence, and lie. The coach also either endorsed those actions, or has no control over a rogue team. Either is a disastrous outcome.

Steve Smith has told assembled media that he deserves to continue to lead his team. “I need to take control of the ship,” he said. “But this is certainly something I’m not proud of and something that I can hopefully learn from and come back strong from.” Such arrogance shows that Smith has no comprehension of the betrayal he and his team have committed, a blatant act of cheating that brings the nation’s past and indeed future into disrepute.

“I can promise you this is the first time it’s happened,” added Smith. But, by now, the words of this team mean little. Bancroft himself admitted that he knew hundreds of cameras were around, and that he was “nervous” as a result. That is both extraordinary stupidity, and a worrying indication of team priorities. When winning comes at any cost – sledging, aggression, even ball-tampering – then this team has definitively lost its way. It has also lost the Australian public’s respect, and trust, most likely permanently.