The deliberate ball-tampering saga has shaken the cricket world. Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the owner of Lord’s Ground and the guardian of the Laws of the cricket, stated that the game’s standard has fallen well below the line.
The deliberate ball-tampering incident happened in the recently concluded third Test between South Africa and Australia at Cape Town, where Australian opener Cameron Bancroft tried to change the ball condition under the instruction of leadership team.
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The incident forced to Steven Smith and David Warner to resign from their captaincy and vice-captaincy roles respectively. Steven Smith has already suspended for one Test (and also received 100% match-fee fine) by ICC.
Smith has been also sacked from IPL team Rajasthan Royals’ captaincy and his further IPL fate will be decided soon. Cricket Australia (CA) will also decide his cricketing future soon.
MCC felt very disappointed on that unsportsmanlike action as they said, “The behaviour of some of the players in the current South Africa/Australia series, and other incidents in recent times in the game we all cherish, has fallen well below the standard required to inspire future generations of cricket-loving families.”
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals co-owner Manoj Badale said, “Rajasthan Royals will do everything possible to protect the values and the integrity of the game. What happened in South Africa was clearly wrong, especially given that it appears to have been pre-meditated.”
CA chief executive James Sutherland said that they already began to restore the faith in Australian cricket. He quoted, “We are aiming to be in a position to fully update the Australian public on the investigation and outcomes on Wednesday morning. We recognise how important the fans are to our game, and this process is the beginning of restoring your faith in Australian Cricket.”
Also read: Matt Renshaw Included In Australian Test Squad
After Smith-Warner’s leadership resignations, Australian wicketkeeper Tim Paine was the captain-in-charge for the remaining third Test. After mentioning that period as horrible, he apologized to the Australian cricket fans.
Australian cricket team’s shirt sponsor, Qantas told AFP on that, “This is deeply disappointing and certainly not what anyone expects from our national cricket team. We are in discussions with Cricket Australia as this issue unfolds.”
