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ESPNCricinfo: Steven Smith and David Warner have been removed as Australia’s captain and vice-captain for the remainder of the Cape Town Test against South Africa, as the first fallout of the ball-tampering confession Australia made on the third day of the Test. Wicketkeeper Tim Paine will lead the side for the last two days of the contest.
“Following discussions with Steve Smith and David Warner they have agreed to stand down as Captain and Vice-Captain respectively for the remainder of this Test match,” Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said on the morning of the fourth day’s play. “This Test match needs to proceed, and in the interim we will continue to investigate this matter with the urgency that it demands.
Australian Captain Steven Smith stands by stumps during the fourth day of the third Test cricket match between South Africa and Australia at Newlands cricket ground on March 25 in Cape Town - AFP
“As I said earlier today, Cricket Australia and Australian cricket fans expect certain standards of conduct from cricketers representing our country, and on this occasion these standards have not been met. All Australians, like us, want answers and we will keep you updated on our findings, as a matter of priority.”
The CA chairman David Peever said the decision to appoint Paine followed an emergency Board meeting. The CA integrity chief Iain Roy and team performance manager Pat Howard are en route to Cape Town. “The Board of Cricket Australia has endorsed Tim Paine to step in as Acting Captain for the remainder of this Test,” he said. “Both Steve and David will take to the field today under Tim’s captaincy.
“The Board fully supports the process for an immediate investigation into what occurred in Cape Town. We regard this as a matter of the utmost seriousness and urgency. We will ensure we have all information available to make the right decisions for Australian cricket.”
Roy’s arrival and investigation may result in charges under CA’s code of behaviour, which features separate clauses relating to “unbecoming conduct” and “cheating”.
The decision to remove Smith and Warner, who took the field at Newlands under Paine’s leadership, came hours after the Australian government had called on Cricket Australia to take such a decision. The country’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has also called the incident a “shocking disappointment”. The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) Chair John Wylie, the ASC Board, and CEO Kate Palmer - essentially speaking for the Australian government - called for severe action against more of the team. “The ASC condemns cheating of any form in sport,” it said in a statement. “The ASC expects and requires that Australian teams and athletes demonstrate unimpeachable integrity in representing our country. “Given the admission by Australian captain Steve Smith, the ASC calls for him to be stood down immediately by Cricket Australia, along with any other members of the team leadership group or coaching staff who had prior awareness of, or involvement in, the plan to tamper with the ball. This can occur while Cricket Australia completes a full investigation.”
The incident took place during the afternoon session and was picked up on by TV cameras. A small, yellow object was seen in Bancroft’s hands after he had worked on the ball, and he was also captured taking it from his pocket and placing it down his trousers. The footage showed Bancroft rubbing the rough side of the ball, the opposite side to which he would usually be trying to shine on his trousers. He put the object down his pants apparently after being spoken to by the substitute Peter Handscomb, who had come on to the field after speaking to coach Darren Lehmann over walkie talkie. Lehmann seemed to speak to Handscomb after footage of Bancroft working on the ball was shown on the TV screens at the ground.
The umpires Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth were then seen speaking with Bancroft, though they did not choose to change the ball or penalise the Australians five runs - the statutory on-field penalty for illegally changing the condition of the ball. When Bancroft spoke to the umpires, he was shown holding a bigger, black cloth rather than the small yellow object he had earlier seemed to place down his trousers.
Smith and Bancroft owned up to the offence at the press conference after play on the third day, and Smith said the leadership group within the team had known about the plan to tamper with the ball.
Australia Captain Steven Smith with team’s youngest member Cameron Bancroft at the press conference where they admitted for ball tampering - ICC
Cape Town (Reuters): The International Cricket Council’s response to the Australian ball tampering incident in the third test at Newlands is firmly under the spotlight with strong punishment expected for the culprits, South Africa coach Ottis Gibson said on Sunday.
“I’m shocked at what’s gone on. I’ve never seen anything as blatant as that,” he told SuperSport television.
“The statement from them said it was the ‘leadership group’ and therefore it was quite a few people involved so we’ll see how the ICC deals with the situation.”
Gibson said he expected cricket’s governing body to take decisive action following the latest incident of a spiteful series that has witnessed plenty of controversial behaviour between players from both teams.
“From the beginning of the series with all of the stuff that has gone on, I’ve kept saying we need strong officials in a series like this with two tough teams going after each other,” he added.
“Hopefully, the match officials will take strong action in this situation.” Australia captain Steve Smith admitted on Saturday his side deliberately tried to tamper with the condition of the ball in an orchestrated attempt to gain an advantage of a test that was slipping away from them. He and senior players conspired to change the condition of the ball using sticky tape and grit from the pitch with Australia’s opening batsman Cameron Bancroft caught on camera using the tape.
The ICC charged Bancroft, the most junior member in the side at 25, of trying to change the condition of the ball. The governing body could dish out a one-match ban and a 100 percent match fee fine to the batsman.
On Sunday, Smith and vice captain David Warner stood down from their roles for the remainder of the third test with Tim Paine taking over as a stand-in skipper.
Former South Africa captain KeplerWessels said the ICC need to be consistent in their punishment and brought up the case of West Indies wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs, banned for three matches by the ICC for “cheating” in 2001 when he stumped an Indian batsmen without a ball in his glove as he broke the wicket.
“If Jacobs got three games for that offence then I wonder what is going to happen to these Australians,” Wessels asked on Sunday.
Former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith, commentating on television, said he was aghast that the ball had not been changed immediately when the tampering pictures were shown on television, adding that the umpires had been remiss.
