Lehmann on the walkie talkie to Handscomb directly before he delivers a message to Bancroft, after which Bancroft immediately sticks the object down his jocks. Audit trail not good for the Aussies here
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Sweep sweep
Not so. Australia have shamed cricket.
Australia batsman Cameron Bancroft has admitted to trying to change the condition of the ball using a foreign object on the third day of the Cape Town Test against South Africa.
“I had discussions with the match officials, I’ve been charged with attempting to change the condition of the ball,” Bancroft said after play in Cape Town. “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. I was cited on the screen and that resulted in me shoving it down my trousers.”
A contrite Steven Smith admitted to Australia’s leadership group knowing about it. “The leadership group knew about it. We spoke about it at lunch,” he said. "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 wont happen again.
"It was the leadership group’s idea. Poor choice and we deeply regret our actions. The coaches weren’t involved. It was purely the leadership group who came up with this. This is the first time it has happened under my leadership. We saw this game as such as 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 and wont happen again. I can promise you. I can promise you this is the first time it has happened.
"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 wont consider stepping down [from captaincy]. 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 judgement.”
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 seeming to place it down his trousers. The footage showed Bancroft seeming to rub the rough side of the ball, the opposite side to which he would usually be trying to shine on his trousers. He appeared to 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 nor 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. Both South African and Australian commentators on the host broadcaster, SuperSport, said Bancroft’s actions looked suspicious. “It is very suspicious. There is no doubt about that,” Allan Border said. “If you’re caught doing the wrong thing, you’ve got to pay the penalty.”
The former South Africa captain Graeme Smith said he was surprised the umpires had not changed the ball. “In my opinion I think he’s tampered with the ball and used an object to do that,” Smith 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. I think there is a lot of questions that need to be answered and Australia need to answer them. For me it’s quite obvious that he’s doing something with the ball and the umpires need to do something about it.”
Shane Warne, meanwhile, said it was unlikely that Bancroft had acted alone, without the knowledge of his captain and coach. “You’ve got to own up and say what was it that you were hiding,” Warne said. "You can’t have that in the game. We’ve got to get to the bottom of it. The Aussies have to be honest and say ‘this is how it happened’. I don’t have any issue with anyone if they are sucking on a mint or chewing some gum, then that’s just natural saliva.
“But if you use a foreign object and it tampers with the ball then that has to be seriously looked at. Let’s get to the bottom of what it is and how did it happen. And it’s not fair to nail Cameron Bancroft on it either. I don’t think he would have made that decision by himself. We’ve got to get to the bottom of it. You know when you get caught you’ve got to own up and be honest. The Aussies have to be honest and say this is how it happened.”
Australia’s bowlers had been able to gain pronounced reverse swing on day three in Cape Town, though South Africa continued to build their second-innings lead. Questions about ball tampering have been raised throughout the series, where reverse swing has been a consistent theme.
Warner was highlighted for the bandages on his hand in Port Elizabeth, the result of numerous finger injuries suffered while batting in the past, and on day one at Newlands the fast bowler Pat Cummins was seen to tread on the ball, though the umpires did not view it as deliberate, and saw no reason to penalise the Australians or change the ball.
Earier in the series, the Australia coach Darren Lehmann said both sides would try various “techniques” to get the ball to reverse swing. The pitch and wicket square at Newlands has been notably greener than those of Durban and Port Elizabeth, meaning there is less natural roughing up of the ball to be gained.
Head cunt Lehmann being protected
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Steve Smith is the biggest cunt in cricket. He deeply regrets it. He regrets that thick cunt Bancroft getting caught.
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The silence is deafening
Not a big deal guys,
All teams do it,we are just more open about it
I’ve just come across the story now and my reaction is quite similar to your own.
My first thought was what team doesn’t tamper with the ball?
It’s gas
Great quote from Bancroft:
“I was in the vicinity of the leadership group” 
Not a great quote
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You should pay more attention.
@Fitzy appears to have gone into hiding and two of the other big Australia cheerleaders on the forum @Little_Lord_Fauntleroy and @Special_Olympiakos reckon its no big deal. The Australian Prime Minister has called on Smith to be removed.
Hours after Cricket Australia said it would investigate the actions of the Australian team’s leadership in relation to the ball-tampering confession in the Cape Town Test, the Australian government has asked the board to remove Steven Smith as captain.
The country’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has also called the incident a “shocking disappointment”. “We all woke up this morning shocked and bitterly disappointed by the news from South Africa,” Turnbull said. "It seemed completely beyond belief that the Australian cricket team had been involved in cheating.
"I’ve spoken with David Peever, the Chairman of Cricket Australia, a few moments ago and I’ve expressed to him very clearly and unequivocally my disappointment and my concern about the events in South Africa.
“It’s their responsibility to deal with it, but I have to say that (to) the whole nation, who holds those who wear the Baggy Green up on a pedestal, about as high as you can get in Australia this is a shocking disappointment. It’s wrong, and I look forward to Cricket Australia taking decisive action soon.”
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 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 government’s point of view emerged shortly after CA chief executive James Sutherland had said the board would investigate the ball tampering affair and take further action against the national team beyond the ICC charge accepted by Cameron Bancroft.
With the CA chairman David Peever in transit home from South Africa, Sutherland chose not to travel to see the team himself, instead delegating the matter to the head of integrity, Iain Roy, and the team performance manager Pat Howard. The initiation of this “process” left Sutherland unable to offer anything beyond the conditional endorsement of Steven Smith as “current” captain of the national team.
Sutherland and Howard were central to the sacking of Mickey Arthur, predecessor to the current coach Darren Lehmann, ahead of the 2013 Ashes series.
“This morning [Australian cricket fans] have every reason to wake up and not be proud of the Australian team. It’s a sad day for Australian cricket,” Sutherland said in Melbourne. "Activities on the field yesterday in Cape Town are neither within the Laws of the game or within the spirit of the game. For us at Cricket Australia that’s extremely disappointing but more importantly it’s extremely disappointing for Australian cricket fans.
"That isn’t the end of it and can’t be the end of it. We have a responsibility to take this further and to understand more about the issue. We will over the next couple of days get a deep understanding of what happened and why and to that end I’ve asked our head of integrity Iain Roy to travel to South Africa today, Pat Howard will also go with him. Iain’s brief will be to gather the relevant information we need to understand the matter better.
“I understand that isn’t the fullness of response that everyone is looking for right now but you will appreciate there is an element of process that needs to be undertaken. It is being dealt with as a matter of urgency and seriousness. It will be dealt with promptly.”
Sutherland, who has been chief executive since 2001, revealed he was yet to speak to Smith about events at Newlands, where the Australians admitted to knowingly cheating by way of a ball tampering attempt in South Africa’s second innings.
“I haven’t spoken to Steve Smith… but he will know. In recent times I’ve had the need to speak to Steve about the behaviour of the team,” Sutherland said in reference to the first Test of the current series in Durban. "I have very strong views on the responsibility of the Australian team and no one will be under any illusions to what I think about this.
"We are extremely disappointed and shocked to what we woke up to this morning and we are dealing with this issue with the utmost urgency and seriousness. Steve Smith is currently the captain of the Australian team. We are working through a process and once we have a clearer picture of the facts then we’ll be able to make further comment.
“Our responsibility right now is to understand the facts and respond accordingly. I want to reiterate that we are dealing with this matter with appropriate urgency. I said right from the outset that I am shocked and extremely disappointed. This is a very sad day. I’m not happy about this at all.”
Despite the ICC match referee Andy Pycroft already informing the Australians of a ball tampering charge against Bancroft, Sutherland said Roy’s investigation would home in on the team issues at hand.
“We need someone to go over there and talk to the relevant people and understand the detail and then we’ll make appropriate decisions on the next steps,” Sutherland said. "We are in the middle of a game and that game needs to conclude but in course of next couple of days we’ll get to the bottom of this.
“I’m not going to speculate on who is involved. We have to understand from the action of the umpires and the press conference. But we need to have those discussions.”
Cricket Australia have sent their “Head of Integrity” to South Africa to sort it out.
We’re not talking horse racing here.
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Smith and Warner stood down from captaincy and vice captaincy for the remainder of the Test. Paine is captain on the field