Steve Smith’s time as Australia’s captain is surely up. It is impossible to envisage a scenario where he stays in the job. This is a train wreck.

When Smith fronted the media on Saturday to explain his role in the ball-tampering scandal, one that has taken an already distasteful encounter with South Africa to new depths, he did not appear to grasp the severity of what he was owning up to. That simply beggared belief.

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This was pre-planned cheating. It may have been implemented by a junior player in Cameron Bancroft but it came with the backing and knowledge of “the leadership group”, a core of senior guys in the Australian set-up. The reputation of a team who were already drawing scorn for their behaviour has been torched.

Beyond Smith and his vice‑captain, David Warner, who is this leadership group? Were the coaches involved? We need this information and we need it yesterday because I know of at least one senior player who is outraged that they have been dragged into the dirt by association without having been involved at all.

As a sport we are quick to tear into administrators at times but it is hard not to have sympathy for James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, in this instance. He should not be put in a situation by the players where he has to apologise to the supporters and the wider public. One could see the hurt when he did.

Quick guide Ball tampering Show Hide What is ball tampering? When someone interferes with the condition of the ball with the primary aim of altering its aerodynamics. Why would they do that? To gain an advantage over the batsman by making the ball swing more in the air, to achieve reverse swing or to degrade the ball to a point that a new one is required. New balls are favoured by fast bowlers as they move quicker and bounce more. How can it be it done? The ball can either be shined on one side – with the application of lip balm, saliva sweetened by a lolly, polish, sun cream or hair gel – or made more abrasive on the other – by scuffing the ball with a finger nail, rough paper, dirt or even teeth. The seam of the ball can also be picked. Why is it considered cheating? Ball tampering is outlawed by the Laws of Cricket. Under law 41, it is an offence for any player to take any action which changes the condition of the ball, however polishing it on clothing, removing mud and drying the ball with a pre-approved piece of cloth are acceptable. If an offence is found to have taken place during a match, five penalty runs are awarded to the batting side and the doctored ball must be replaced. If discovered retrospectively, other sanctions can be applied.

Photograph: www.alamy.com

Last year was dominated by a huge battle between players and the board, with the former earning an incredible deal by sticking together and staying strong. I have no problem with that whatsoever. But then to throw that goodwill back in the face of their employers and the public in this way is simply terrible.

The brutal reality is that this team are seen as arrogant and all too quick to dictate “the line” to others. It was not so long ago that Warner was ripping into Faf du Plessis for ball-tampering in 2016, saying Australia would never do the same. The events over the weekend have exposed this as rank hypocrisy.

It is little wonder the fallout has been so huge and sympathy for Australia has been in such short supply. Because for all the good cricket played in this series against South Africa – and we are watching two excellent sides – the atmosphere has stunk and it has made the viewing less enjoyable than it should be.

Is the Baggy Green tarnished as a result of this? That is possibly too extreme but certainly the current generation – Smith and his as yet unspecified leadership group – have made a grave error and one that will stay with them for a good while.

They were just stood in the middle of a cricket match blatantly lying to the officials. That is such a bad look

Where Darren Lehmann fits into this is anyone’s guess. Smith insisted the head coach knew nothing of the scheme during the lunch break. We have not spoken since but I would be amazed if this was not the case and that the moves he made when it all unravelled on the field were not done on instinct to protect his players.

Whether even that is right or wrong will be for other people to decide. It is down to Sutherland and his colleagues to get to the bottom of who knew what and when. Going on their response to date – and the fact the prime minister of Australia has been in contact – one would expect no stone to be left unturned.

Some may say that all teams try to get the ball to reverse and point to the law that imposes only five penalty runs. But while this is true, and most teams push the boundaries by throwing the ball into the pitch or the stumps, it is both the use of a foreign object and the conspiracy that takes this to a whole new level.

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Take the image of Bancroft and Smith speaking to the umpires, with the former producing a cloth he uses for his sunglasses rather than the piece of sticky tape covered in grit. They were just standing in the middle of a cricket match blatantly lying to the officials. That is such a bad look and hugely disappointing.

So the Australian men’s team will now need to rebuild public trust from scratch. What must happen is a period of serious introspection. There are some fine individuals in the set-up, trust me, but as a team they need to re-examine how they play the game, along with their behaviour and image overall.

Australian cricket will survive this and provided there is some honesty with the camp, it will hopefully emerge in better shape. New leaders will rise up and take the side forward. But it will not be Smith and it will not be Warner.