Sheffield Shield final clouded by ball-tampering scandal

The Sheffield Shield, one of Australia’s most prestigious tournament is at the receiving end of a horrific scandal. The tournament, in all its 124 year history is witnessing a ball-tampering scandal for the first time in its history.

Coach of the Victoria Bushrangers, Mick Lewis has been fined over $ 2000 for allegedly tampering with the ball. Having made the accusation that Lewis allegedly tampered with the ball, video evidence and replays have gone on to suggest that Lewis may well have tinkered the condition of the ball. In addition, the television replays show Lewis dipping the ball into a gutter before rubbing it on concrete in the all-important Sheffield Shield final. The incident that took place on the third day of the match ensured that the Bushrangers were penalized five runs.

The 41-year old Lewis has played 7 ODIs for Australia, including the mammoth run fest at Johannesburg. He pleaded guilty and was charged almost 50% of his match fee as a penalty. After making his debut against New Zealand in 2005 at Wellington, Lewis has played just 7 ODIs for Australia.

Playing against South Australia in the final, Mark Cosgrove struck the ball to the boundary, close to where Lewis was positioned. Television replays went on to suggest that Lewis had kicked the ball into the gutter and subsequently rubbed it into the concrete before tossing the ball back into the field of play.

Sean Cary, the head of operations for Cricket Australia stated that ball tampering was indeed a serious offence and action would immediately be taken against the perpetrators. Steve Bernard, the match referee spoke to Lewis regarding the incident before awarding the run penalty.

“Ball tampering is a very serious offence and simply won’t be tolerated at any level of the game,” CA head of cricket operations Sean Cary said.

The chief executive of the Victoria Bushrangers side, Tony Dodemaide also voiced his concerns regarding the incident, stating that it is against the spirit of the game.

He said, “Cricket Victoria does not condone any action to gain an unfair advantage in any form, we’re committed to playing fair cricket in the spirit of the game.”The Victorian coach David Saker too was extremely disappointed in Mick’s actions and he also rued the fact that his side had to concede 5 valuable runs for the incident.

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