Steve Smith has quashed talk of ball‑tampering after footage emerged of the Australia captain wiping his lip before shining the ball in the 34th over of England’s innings during the one‑day international in Sydney on Sunday.

The suggestion was that Smith was applying an illegal substance to the ball, something he denied after being shown a video of the incident during the post-match press conference.

“It was all spit,” the 28-year-old said. “It’s the way I get spit from the side of my mouth and on the ball.

“People said something about lip balm. If you look at my lips, they’re pretty dry!”

Smith also called for changes in the way on-field umpires “soft signal” after he was on the wrong end of a contentious caught-behind decision. With Smith (45) and Mitchell Marsh (55) going well and Australia 181 for three in the 34th over chasing England’s 302 for six, man-of-the-match Jos Buttler took what looked a smart low catch to his right.

Smith stood his ground but when the umpire Chris Gaffaney called for the video review, he indicated, with a “soft signal”, that his decision was out. Smith believes the process should be reviewed and more responsibility handed to the third umpire. “I’m not sure I’m a big fan,” he said. “It’s hard to overturn anything. The fielder goes up and sort of celebrates and they’re usually given out. I’d like for the third umpire to have to make the decision. He [Buttler] obviously thought it was out. He’s a pretty honest guy.”

Buttler said: “I was pretty sure it was out. I think any wicketkeeper would tell you when they’ve got their fingers under it.”

Meanwhile, Eoin Morgan believes England’s performance in the third ODI has shown his side are peaking towards the 2019 World Cup. On a pitch that challenged their dynamic batsmen, a score of 302 for six was posted and defended to seal victory by 16 runs and a 3-0 series lead.

After coming unstuck on a similar surface in Cardiff during the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy semi-final, Morgan pointed to the contrast in displays then and here in Sydney.

“Cardiff was a place versus Pakistan where reverse swing played a bit part,” the captain said. “And it did today as well. They got it going quite early. We responded exceptionally well. As a group, we gave a lot more.”