For the remainder of the third Test…
Saturday saw the unravelling of the latest chapter of a Test series that has seen its fair share of controversy, as Australia Captain Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft admitted to ball-tampering.
Video footage emerged of Bancroft using tape to alter the condition of one side of the ball, before hiding the tape down the front of his trousers when he realised his attempt at cheating had been shown on the big screen in Cape Town.
Bancroft you cheat #balltampering pic.twitter.com/KPTD88Nsdt
— Jan Van Sinyile (@baba_luks) March 24, 2018
At Saturday night’s press conference, Smith admitted to have planned this attempt to tamper with the ball and explained that the leadership group, comprising a few senior players, had agreed to carry out the plan and had asked Bancroft with doing so.
This morning it was announced that Smith will step down as captain, with David Warner stepping down from his role as vice-captain of the Australian cricket team too, but only for the remainder of this third Test of the series.
Both Smith and Warner will continue to play but Tim Paine will step in as captain.
Cricket Australia have come under a lot of pressure to immediately sack Smith, but this will act as a half-measure while an inquiry is carried out by their Head of Integrity, Iain Roy.
Chief Executive of Cricket Australia, James Sutherland told reporters on Sunday:
“We’re in the middle of a game right now and that game needs to conclude.
“We certainly don’t have all the evidence at hand. We need someone to go over there and talk to the relevant people involved.
“I have asked our head of integrity Iain Roy to travel to South Africa today … Iain’s brief will be to gather the relevant information to address this matter and to understand it better.
“Once Iain submits his report, we will make further comment.”
