Michael Vaughan has criticised the behaviour of Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson even though suggestions of malpractice by the England bowlers were officially thrown out by the International Cricket Council today.

The ICC, the match referee Roshan Mahanama and the umpires Tony Hill and Daryl Harper all closed the book on the matter yesterday following yesterday's announcement that South Africa had "raised concerns" about the condition of the ball.

Vaughan, however, speaking before the ICC announcement, sounded considerably more riled than the South Africans when he said: "England have been caught and we have to hold our hands up. They were thinking they were smart but they've been very silly.

"Stuart Broad stood on the ball, and then Jimmy Anderson collected the ball, whether it was the next over or the over after, and started playing around the area where Broad had created the scuff marks."

Vaughan, who is in South Africa commentating on the series for BBC's Test Match Special, added: "They were just trying to get the ball to reverse swing. It looks quite bad on the TV screens. I'm quite disappointed because I don't like to see that sort of action in a game. It doesn't look good. What would we say if it was Pakistan?"

The Great Ball Tampering Row appeared to have crashed into the side of Table Mountain after South Africa failed to formalise their grievances and get an official report to the match referee before the start of play today.

Sky, understandably, have been less animated than the local TV station. Nasser Hussain, Vaughan's predecessor as captain, said: "We've all been there. We're not whiter than white. Where you see the ball and think would it be nice to get nails into that, get it reverse-swinging. But you've just got to leave it alone because if the opposition see you going like that to the ball they get very fidgety."

Another former England skipper, Mike Atherton, and one with what might be called a keen interest in ball-tampering, suggested picking at the seam has "gone on since time immemorial" and urged South Africa to take their complaints to match officials if they have serious concerns.

Atherton, who is still remembered for the "dirt in the pocket" story when he captained England against South Africa at Lord's in 1994, said: "They're serious allegations. They must put up or shut up rather than put it out in the wider domain that they've got concerns over the ball."

It was around that time, in the early 1990s, that ball-tampering became one of the most emotive issues in the game. It was fuelled, largely, by Pakistan's infamous tour of England in 1992.

Imran Khan, who retired earlier that year, had admitted that he used bottle tops to scratch the surface of the ball and in that summer 18 years ago fingers were pointed at Pakistan's fast bowlers Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram because of their sensational and often unplayable deliveries.

Ball-tampering stories, as Atherton suggests, are as old as the game itself. Most of the former players here yesterday just could not understand what all the fuss was about. But one former England player – and a current county cricketer – said last night: "I don't know why players do it. You just can't get away with cheating any more. They should have more sense. You just can't do that sort of thing, not with all the TV cameras around."