Cameron Bancroft and Australia captain Steve Smith with the umpire. (AP)
Steve Smith will remain the captain of the Australia cricket team for now, Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said on Sunday though he admitted that he was “shocked and extremely disappointed” with the incident. Speaking at a press conference, the former Australian first-class cricketer said Cricket Australia will go through its processes.
“Steve Smith is currently the captain of the Australian team. We are working through our processes and once we get a clearer picture of the facts and then we will be able to make further comments,” Sutherland said.
Smith and Bancroft admitted to tampering the condition of the ball on the third day’s play of the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town on Saturday. Bancroft used a “yellow tape” to pick gravels from the pitch to rub on the ball.
The Cricket Australia boss further went on to say that he is shocked and extremely disappointed with what happened on the field. “Australian cricket fans want to be proud of the cricket team and this morning I had every reason to wake up and not be proud. It’s a very sad day for Australian cricket,” he said.
Watch LIVE: CA boss James Sutherland addresses the media in Melbourne http://t.co/DvMGGXqxSl
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) 25 March 2018
“Activities on the field yesterday are neither within the laws of the game band within the spirit of the game. It’s extremely disappointing,” he added.
READ | Steve Smith admits senior players had hatched the plan of ball tampering
Giving details into the action that has been taken on the players responsible so far, Sutherland said, “Cameron Bancroft was charged as per ICC code of conduct and accepted the charge and the penalty that came with it. He and Steve Smith spoke about the matter. Unfortunately, that cannot be the end of it and we have a responsibility to take it under and understand more about the issues.”
READ | How ball tampering panned out before
He further added that proper authorities will travel to South Africa to gather more information and evidence. “Head of Integrity Iain Roy and Head of Team Performance Pat Howard are heading to South Africa to gather all the information tomorrow and they will get the information we need to understand this matter,” he said.
What you got in your pocket @cbancroft4 ? #SAvAUS pic.twitter.com/MhfMo4QjPs
— Laurie Reid (@Laurie_Reid1) 24 March 2018
Sutherland added that they will further make full comments after a thorough investigation. “It will be dealt with promptly and we will work very hard on the next couple of days to understand the full picture and make a full comment in due course,” he said.
Cameron Bancroft at a press conference on Saturday was admitted to tampering the ball using a piece of sticky yellow tape. Skipper Steve Smith added that he and other senior players came up with the idea to try and change the condition of the ball.