Process underway to investigate ball-tampering incident: James Sutherland

Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland, in light of the ball-tampering issue, clarified that Steve Smith remains the Australian captain but a Cricket Australia (CA) investigation is set to decide his fate. Iain Roy, CA’s Head of Integrity, and Pat Howard, CA’s Head of Team Performance, are headed to South Africa to investigate the incident after the astounding revelations on day three of the third Test against South Africa.

Opener Cameron Bancroft has been charged by the ICC after confessing to using yellow tape to pick up rough granules from the pitch and rub them on the rough side of the ball in a bid to aid reverse swing. In a one-of-a-kind press conference after play, Smith confirmed that he helped devise the ploy but will not stand down as captain.

“Steve Smith’s currently the captain of the Australian team,” he said in Melbourne on Sunday (March 25). “We’re working through a process and once we have a clearer picture of the facts and understand things … we’ll be able to make further comment.

“In the course of the next couple of days we will get to the bottom of this and we will take appropriate action,” he added. “I’ve asked Iain Roy and Pat Howard to travel to South Africa today and they’ll be on the ground. Iain’s brief will be to gather all the information we need to understand this matter better.”

Remarkably, Sutherland admitted he had not spoken to Smith since the saga broke. “I haven’t spoken to Steve Smith,” he said. “But in recent times I’ve had reason to speak to Steve about the team’s behaviour.”

Australia have a history of being in the news for their misconduct on the field for quite some years. While supporters have accepted and often justified their approach on multiple instances, the acceptance of blatant cheating has put several fans and supporters in a conflict.

Sutherland expresses ‘Extreme Disappointment’

“I was extremely disappointed and shocked to hear the news and read the news this morning,” Sutherland said, choking back tears, as reported by Cricbuzz. “We regard this as an extremely serious issue. Australian cricket fans want to be proud of their cricket team they have every reason to wake up and not be proud of the Australian cricket team.”

Sutherland’s statement was initially met with some derision in Australia with skepticism that nothing major will result from the investigation. However, Sutherland assured that it would be thorough to uncover what had transpired on the field.

“That’s not the end of it and can’t be the end of it,” he said. “We have a responsibility to take this further. We will over the next couple of days get a deep understanding of what happened and why.”

With CA now in damage control, Sutherland admitted it was one of Australian cricket’s darkest days. “It’s a very sad day for Australian cricket,” he said. “One of the unique things about the game of cricket is that it’s not only to be played within the laws of the game but in the spirit of the game. “Activities on the field yesterday in Cape Town were neither within the laws of the game nor in the spirit of the game,” he added.