Amid his resignation as Australia captain and fresh, absurd talk of Steve Smith potentially being banned for life by Cricket Australia, he is still a little too young for us to know what his legacy will be.

The events of this week and this fractious Test series, however, will now ensure that when he retires from the game and the paeans to his cricketing ability are written - a rise from half-decent leg-spinner who batted eight to one of the world’s best bladesmen - that cheating will no doubt get a mention.

Whether that is of consequence is another matter entirely.

WG Grace, the world’s first great cricketer, has as many legendary stories about his bending - and downright shattering - of the rules as he does his batting prowess.

Tom Brady, arguably the greatest quarterback in NFL history, will bow out of the game with at least five Super Bowl rings but also the spectre of Spygate hanging over some of his success and, far more directly, Deflategate.

Diego Maradona is best-remembered the world over for his extraordinary footballing ability and, erm, off-field exuberance. Yet his ‘Hand of God’ is still obviously invoked as a key pillar of his sporting legacy and it will be forevermore.

Cheating is part of every sport in the same way that crime is part of everyday society. To cheat contravenes the rules, laws and norms and, following due process, should receive proportionate punishment. Intent and planning change things, of course. In Britain, that is the difference between murder and man slaughter yet I’m not willing to cast Smith out into the cold simply for being the kingpin in some sort of harebrained ball-tampering ring.

The most obvious thing about this particular incident involving Cameron Bancroft, Peter Handscomb and The Leadership Group is the sheer stupidity of it all.

Cameron Bancroft and Steve Smith admit to ball-tampering during the third Test against South Africa (Getty)

So many cameras, so many angles and a host broadcaster that was happy to beam around the globe a 360 degree view of flagrant cheating and the schoolboy attempts to cover it up.

Let’s be clear, every team from amateur level upwards tries to make the ball as amenable to swing as possible. If cheating in sport is like committing crime in normal society then ball-tampering is something akin to speeding - an offence most have committed on a very mild scale but that you’ll likely get away with.

“Oh no, it got scuffed by the car park” smiles the returning boundary fielder knowingly as he slings a ball back into the keeper’s gloves at club level, while boiled sweets are a well-known aid for providing a more varnish-like saliva coating to shine the ball with. This is basic stuff.

Many international and county cricketers will admit to having tampered with the ball in private. Some, after retirement, have come clean in autobiographies. Others, after being caught, admitted to it at the time: Adam Parore revealed New Zealand used bottle caps to scratch the ball in 1990, Rahul Dravid rubbed a cough sweet on the ball in 2004 and was fined, Marcus Trescothick confessed that in the 2005 Ashes - one of England’s great 21st-century victories - they used mints to provide more shine. I must have missed the widespread condemnation of that.

The Ashes through the years Show all 24 1 /24 The Ashes through the years The Ashes through the years The Ashes England and Australia have battled for the little urn for over a hundred years with countless iconic moments along the way Getty The Ashes through the years One of England's first heroes was Sydney Barnes who starred as the series' were evenly contested until the First World War Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years England won only one Test out of 15 from the end of the war until 1925 with Herbert Sutcliffe one of few standouts Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years Post-war the great Don Bradman put England to the sword time and again scoring 974 runs in a single series in 1930 Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years In 1956 Jim Laker produced the bowling display of a lifetime taking 19 of the possible 20 Australian wickets in an England victory at Old Trafford Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years England's dominance was short-lived with Richie Benaud skippering Australia to a dominant series win in 1959 Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years Geoffrey Boycott entered the fray in the 1970s and was never too far away from the headlines Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years Ray Illingworth guided England to success in Australia in the 1970/71 series Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years Allan Border's relentless will to win kickstarted an extended period of success for Australia in the eighties Getty The Ashes through the years Ian Botham's match-winning heroics at Headingley in 1981 remain one of the rivalry's most memorable and iconic moments Getty The Ashes through the years Steve Waugh was one of the stars as Australia ruthlessly seized control of the Ashes in the 1990s Getty The Ashes through the years Shane Warne exploded on to the scene in 1993 with the 'ball of the century' and would go on to torment England for years to come AFP The Ashes through the years Glenn McGrath played an integral part in the Australian dominance establishing himself as the pre-eminent seam bowler of his generation Getty The Ashes through the years The tide turned in 2005 with Steve Harmison's last-gasp wicket at Edgbaston proving vital to a famous recapturing of the urn Getty The Ashes through the years The 2005 series is widely-regarded as the greatest of them all Getty The Ashes through the years England came crashing back to earth in 2007 with Australia handing them an infamous whitewash before McGrath, Warne and Justin Langer all called it a day in Sydney Getty The Ashes through the years James Anderson and Monty Panesar's stout rearguard action in 2009 was key as England regained the Ashes Getty The Ashes through the years Alastair Cook was England's hero in 2011 with 766 runs and three centuries including an imperious 235* in Brisbane Getty The Ashes through the years Graeme Swann was outstanding with the ball too as England won the series 3-1 Getty The Ashes through the years Ian Bell top scored in the summer of 2013 as England kept the urn Getty The Ashes through the years Mitchell Johnson produced the form of his life to obliterate England in 2013/14 in a second whitewash in five series Getty The Ashes through the years Stuart Broad's memorable 8 for 15 at Trent Bridge saw Australia dismissed for 60 in one of the great fast bowling spells Getty The Ashes through the years Steve Smith starred as Australia bulldozed England in 2017/18 Getty Images The Ashes through the years Joe Root and Tim Paine captain the sides this time around Getty Images

Many cases are denied and many more were never even noticed. This isn’t match-fixing, this isn’t spot-fixing, it is an offence due punishment and one that the responsible numbskulls have already been punished for. I know we live in this age of permanent outrage, but is following the ICC’s guidelines for punishment not enough when this is pretty similar to numerous offences that have gone before?

The Leadership Group that cooked up this cartoon-level scheme will ultimately pay the price for the somewhat excessive outrage they’ve caused back home. It’s funny for a Brit to watch, especially when it’s the Aussie media getting stuck into one of their own rather than Stuart Broad, but this feels like something of a storm in a Billy teacup, which would struggle for as much pop in Britain if newspapers weren’t keen to fill sports pages in absence of Premier League matches this weekend.

Given the hypocrisy of the Australians earlier in the series, where they wilfully doled out abuse to Quinton De Kock but found the South Africa batsman’s response too hot to handle, it is amusing that those who have consistently decided where ‘the line’ is based on how far they wanted to push it have not even been able to move it far enough to justify their latest transgressions.

Perhaps it boils down to the fact that in Australia, where the job of Test cricket captain might be second only to Prime Minister, Smith is expected to set an example. He is, in short, supposed to be the best of Australia.

Cricketer Cameron Bancroft seen with object while handling the ball

And thus far in his career he’s done a pretty sterling job. Without marrying a kangaroo or guest-starring in Neighbours, who or what could be more Australian than Steve Smith, the man literally voted ‘Australian of the year’ by The Australian newspaper?

That’s clearly why Australia feels let down, and the front-page reaction of major newspapers has made clear the disgust felt by many of Smith’s compatriots towards what went on at Newlands.

But it feels a little rich when spineless Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull expresses his outrage on Smith’s behaviour when he’s been so silent on, for example, illegally-detained refugees being abused on Australia’s watch in Nauru.

Malcolm Turnbull has condemned Smith and co. (EPA)

Politicians like nothing more than jumping on the bandwagon and with someone as unpleasant as Turnbull, it is particularly galling for them to weigh in on the scratching of a cricket ball when they’ve proved so short of compassion and leadership elsewhere.

Smith has fallen short in many ways, he held a lofty position in Australian society and was clearly a key cog in a chain of stupid decisions that let down his teammates - particularly the junior ones charged with executing the plan - and his national team.

But Smith remains a fine cricketer and person who will bounce back.