Acting captain Tim Paine has described the past 24 hours for the Australian cricket team as ‘bizarre, strange and horrible’ in the wake of the ball tampering scandal that erupted over the weekend.
The wicketkeeper, 33, was placed in the leadership role after Steve Smith and David Warner ‘agreed to stand down’ for the remainder of the third Test on Sunday morning.
The Australian cricket team were caught ball tampering in South Africa with batsman Cameron Bancroft using dirt stuck to a piece of tape.
Cricket Australia’s acting captain Tim Paine (pictured) has described the past 24 hours for the national team as ‘bizarre, strange and horrible’ in the wake of the ball tampering scandal that erupted over the weekend
The wicketkeeper, 33, was placed in the leadership role after Steve Smith (pictured) and David Warner ‘agreed to stand down’ for the remainder of the third Test on Sunday morning
The Australian cricket team were caught ball tampering in South Africa with batsman Cameron Bancroft using dirt stuck to a piece of tape (pictured is Cameron Bancroft)
In his post-match press conference, Paine admitted the team was ‘struggling with the enormity’ of the scandal.
‘I don’t think we expected this to be as big as it has been, the fall-out we have seen from back home,’ he said.
‘It has been a really bizarre, strange, horrible 24 hours. We’re struggling but the reality and the enormity of what’s happened has probably started to sink in.’
Smith is facing a life ban from cricket for cheating, despite escaping with a one-match suspension from the ICC after admitting to ball tampering.
In a press conference after play on Saturday, Smith admitted that he and senior players planned the ball-tampering at lunch on day three but said he won’t be quitting his role as captain.
Steve Smith (left) and David Warner (right) have been removed as captain and vice-captain of the Australian cricket team
Cameron Bancroft was seen running his hand over the ball, before removing a yellow object from his pocket and placing it down the front of his trousers
Steve Smith (pictured with his fiancee Dani Willis) could be facing a life ban from cricket for cheating, despite escaping with a one-match suspension after admitting to ball tampering
Cricket Australia’s Head of Integrity Iain Roy has begun interviewing players in South Africa as part of a ‘full investigation’ into the cheating scandal.
Code of behaviour charges are expected to follow, leading to a verdict by an independent commissioner who could impose the maximum penalty of a life ban on both Smith and Warner for conduct contrary to the spirit of the game.
Smith, Warner and opening batsman Cameron Bancroft were booed from the field as Australia lost ten wickets for 50 runs on the third day of a Test match, and were later hounded by reporters asking ‘Why did you cheat?’ as they entered their hotel.
Smith’s predecessor Michael Clarke took a softer line on the embattled captain, and said on Monday morning he should be forgiven.
‘The other thing which I know it will be really hard for a lot of people and will take a lot of time, and I accept that, but forgiveness,’ said Clarke on the Today show.
‘I do feel for Steve Smith. 100 per cent he has made a major mistake. Him, and I think a lot of people, will have to suffer the consequences, and I think that’s fair enough.
‘I think that’s fair enough, but I think it is important that we do, over time, forgive as well.’
Cricket Australia’s Head of Integrity Iain Roy has begun interviewing players in South Africa as part of a ‘full investigation’ into the cheating scandal (pictured are David Warner with his wife Candice Warner)
Smith’s predecessor Michael Clarke (pictured) took a softer line on the embattled captain, and said on Monday morning he should be forgiven
Clarke went on to say he hopes Smith is not surrounded by paparazzi on his return to Australia, and is able to leave his home without being stared at.
Cricket legend Shane Warne weighed into the scandal in commentary, and said Steve Smith may never captain Australia again.
Warne said he could not see Smith returning as team leader, and Paine should lead the team until a long-term replacement is found.
‘You’d have to say it’s in real jeopardy as to whether he’ll ever captain again,’ Warne said as Australia crashed to a 322-run defeat in the Third Test against South Africa.
‘I think Paine will be the interim, but not for the long term and then they’ll work out just who is the best option for them.’
Despite his scathing assessment of Smith’s future, Warne said he and vice-captain Warner should have been able to finish the Test, and not sacked halfway through.
‘I don’t think it’s the right thing Smith and Warner should be stood down during the match. Wait until the end of the Test match,’ he said.
‘At the end of the Test, if you want to get them out of the team and sack them as captain and vice captain, that’s fine, but not during the Test match.’
Fellow Victorian bowler Merv Hughes also weighed into the scandal, saying he felt ‘betrayed and absolutely shattered’ in an interview on Brisbane’s 97.3FM.
‘If the whole team was complicit then we’ve got a big problem,’ he said.
Cricket Australia made the announcement about Smith ahead of the fourth day’s play in Cape Town on Sunday
Former Australian players Adam Gilchrist, Jason Gillespie and Allan Border, and former South African captain Graeme Smith spoke out in agreement with Warne.
Others, such as celebrity agent Max Markson, said they doubted either Smith or Warner would represent Australia again.
Smith was even compared to disgraced Olympics sprinter Ben Johnson, who never came back from cheating at the Seoul Olympics in 1988.
Cricket Australia called an emergency meeting to decide Smith’s future after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull added his voice to the furious chorus demanding the skipper be stood down.
Cricket Australia chief executive, James Sutherland said: ‘Following discussions with Steve Smith and David Warner they have agreed to stand down as captain and vice-captain respectively for the remainder of this Test match.
‘This Test match needs to proceed, and in the interim we will continue to investigate this matter with the urgency that it demands.
‘As I said earlier today, Cricket Australia and Australian cricket fans expect certain standards of conduct from cricketers representing our country, and on this occasion these standards have not been met.
‘All Australians, like us, want answers and we will keep you updated on our findings, as a matter of priority.’
Batsman Cameron Bancroft was caught tampering with ball against South Africa on Saturday
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the incident was wrong and called for decisive action from Cricket Australia
Warner (left) and Smith (right) are both on the field for Australia against South Africa
Australia’s Cameron Bancroft has found himself at the centre of ball-tampering controversy
Turnbull was flooded with ‘shock and bitter disappointment’ upon hearing about the ball tampering.
Speaking about the incident which has thrown Australian cricket into to chaos, the prime minister said: ‘It seemed completely beyond belief that the Australian cricket team had been involved in cheating.’
He said the news beggared belief with the players role models for millions around the country.
‘The whole nation who holds those who wear the baggy green up on a pedestal — about as high as you can get in Australia, higher than any politician that’s for sure — this is a shocking disappointment.
‘It’s wrong and I look forward to Cricket Australia taking decisive action soon,’ he said.
Mr Turnbull said he had been in contact with the Cricket Australia chairman David Peever to express his disappointment ‘clearly and unequivocally’.
The Australian Sports Commission has called on Smith to be removed as captain.
Steve Smith (right) faced the media on Saturday night but has been removed as captain ahead of the fourth day in Cape Town
Shane Warne said during coverage of the Test match on Fox Sports that ‘you just can’t do that’, adding: ‘I don’t care who you are.’
Bancroft was spoken to by English umpires Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth on Saturday
In a statement, the government body which funds sport in Australia, said it condemns cheating and expects Australian athletes to ‘demonstrate unimpeachable integrity in representing our country’.
‘The Australian cricket team are iconic representatives of our country,’ the statement from chairman John Wylie and chief executive Kate Palmer said.
‘The example they set matters a great deal to Australia and to the thousands of young Australians playing or enjoying the sport of cricket and who look up to the national team as role models.
‘Given the admission by Australian captain Steve Smith, the ASC calls for him to be stood down immediately by Cricket Australia, along with any other members of the team leadership group or coaching staff who had prior awareness of, or involvement in, the plan to tamper with the ball.
‘This can occur while Cricket Australia completes a full investigation.’
Bancroft admitted he had panicked when he was sighted on the screens in the stadium
Bancroft and Steve Smith admitted that ball tampering had taken place during the action
Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland was on the verge of tears as he told reporters at a press conference on Sunday morning: ‘This is a sad day for Australian Cricket.’
He has sent the head of integrity and head of team performance out to South Africa to investigate and said he will not decide on sacking any players until he has seen their report.
Another former captain, Michael Clarke called the cheating ‘blatant’ and ‘disrespectful’ during an interview on Nine News on Sunday morning in which he also refused to rule out a return as team captain, saying: ‘If I was asked by the right people, then I would think about my answer.’
Clarke called the cheating ‘blatant’ and ‘disrespectful’ during an interview on Nine News today
He said: ‘I am pretty emotional about it all, to be honest. It is going to be quite hard for me to talk about. I think I have no doubt in my mind Steve Smith will be sitting in his hotel room right now in tears.
‘I have no doubt in my mind that every past Australian cricketer will be absolutely shattered with what we found out this morning.’
He savaged Smith for apparently asking 25-year-old Bancroft to cheat, saying: ‘This is his eighth test match. I can’t believe if the leadership group has made a decision to do this, that they have gone and got the young kid who is playing his eighth test match to do that.
‘As a leader, you can’t ask somebody to do something you are not willing to do something you are not willing to do yourself.’
The four-Test series between Australia and South Africa has been marred by a handful of ugly controversies, starting with a staircase clash between David Warner and Quinton de Kock.
‘It’s a sad day for Australian cricket’: CEO James Sutherland’s full statement on cheating scandal
Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland was on the verge of tears as he told reporters at a press conference on Sunday morning: ‘This is a sad day for Australian Cricket.’
He has sent the head of integrity and head of team performance out to South Africa to investigate and said he will not decide on sacking any players until he has seen their report. Here is his full statement:
Thanks for joining us. Just wanted to say at the outset that I was extremely disappointed and shocked to hear the news and read the news this morning after the events in Cape Town yesterday.
From a Cricket Australia perspective we regard this as a extremely serious issue and in a moment I will go into steps that will be put in place to understand more about it. Australian cricket fans want to be proud of their cricket team, they want to be proud of the Australian cricket team.
Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland was on the verge of tears as he told reporters at a press conference on Sunday morning: ‘This is a sad day for Australian Cricket.’
‘I was extremely disappointed and shocked to hear the news and read the news this morning after the events in Cape Town yesterday,’ said Sutherland
And I think this morning they have every reason to wake up and not be proud of the team. It’s a very sad day for Australian cricket. One of the unique things about the game of cricket is that it’s to be played not only within the laws of the game but in the spirit of the game.
And activities on the field yesterday in Cape Town are neither within the laws of the game or within the laws of the game or within the spirit of the game. And for us at Cricket Australia that’s extremely disappointing, but more importantly for Australian cricket fans it’s extremely disappointing as well.
Cameron Bancroft was charged under the ICC code of conduct, and accepted that charge and penalty that came with it. And after the game he and Steve Smith spoke about that matter. Unfortunately that’s not the end of it and can’t be the end of it.
We have a responsibility to take this further and to understand more about the issue. And we will over the next couple of days get a deep understanding of what happened and why, and to that end I have asked our head of integrity Ian Roy to travel to South Africa today.
He has sent the head of integrity and head of team performance out to South Africa to investigate and said he will not decide on sacking any players until he has seen their report
Pat Howard, head of team performance will also go with him, and they will also go with him, and they will be on the ground in South Africa tomorrow. Ian’s brief will be to gather the relevant information that we need to address this matter and to understand it better.
Understand that’s not necessarily the fullness of response that everyone is looking for right now, but you will appreciate that there is an element of process that needs to be undertaken here and you will understand that by appointing our head of integrity to this project it is being dealt with as a matter of urgency and seriousness.
It will be dealt with promptly, we will work very hard over the next couple of days to get to the bottom of it, to understand the big picture, to understand the detail and to be making further comment on that in due course.
Again, I just want to repeat two things – one is we are extremely disappointed and shocked at what we woke up to this morning and, secondly, we are dealing with this issue with the up most urgency and seriousness. Thanks