'We knew something ominous was around the corner' - Greg Chappell recalls infamous 2018 ball-tampering incident

The ball-tampering incident of 2018 vastly affected the Australian cricketing system. The former Australia cricketer Greg Chappell has now recounted the incident and has revealed that some people including him had a feeling of smething big happening during the South Africa tour.

The Steve Smith-led side was placed under major scrutiny for the ball-tampering scandal during the third Test against South Africa. Smith, his deputy David Warner, and opener Cameron Bancroft had to face the consequences for their involvement in the incident. Chappell thus added that the team’s behavior pointed that something severe was waiting to happen.

“There was a period leading up to Cape Town where quite a few of us had the same feeling. We couldn’t tell you what the problem or the blow-up was going to be, but we knew that something ominous was around the corner. In essence, “this is not going to end well,” Chappell wrote in his column for The Age.

There were opportunities to speak up as an organization and we didn’t do it: Greg Chappell

The series between Australia and the Proteas had started with a controversy wherein Warner and Quinton de Kock had got involved in a verbal war. It happened whilst tea break on the fourth day of the first Test in Durban. Chappell further wrote that as an organization they were guilty.

He added that everybody had the responsibility as there were opportunities to come forward and speak but no one stepped up. The former cricketer also feels that it will take a considerable amount of time before sledging is completely abandoned by Australian players.

“Ultimately, every one of us in the organization was guilty. We all walked past things we shouldn’t have walked past, from top to bottom. There were opportunities to speak up as an organization and we didn’t do it. It may take another generation or two before the crutch of nasty, premeditated sledging is fully abandoned by Australian players.

“I am not completely convinced that the good work of the past three years has fully stamped it out: undeniably there are some cricketers who still reckon it is a competitive advantage worth having,” Chappell further wrote.