Tearful cricketers face the cameras as national team sees wave of resignations in what could be country’s biggest sporting crisis

Australia was on Thursday confronting arguably the gravest sporting crisis in its history as cricket’s ball-tampering scandal hurtled on with an outpouring of tears, resignations and national soul searching.



The team’s coach, Darren Lehmann, was red-eyed as he announced he was quitting following the public breakdown of its captain, Steve Smith, on live TV during a press conference so ashamedly apologetic it verged on uncomfortable.

In January the same Australian team demolished England in an Ashes whitewash, the pinnacle of the international game. For several years they have celebrated a macho, win-at-all-costs culture which encouraged merciless ribbing of their opponents.

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

But Smith looked a broken man as he stuttered and sobbed his way through an apology to the click of dozens of camera shutters. He choked on his words when considering the effect the scandal has had on his own parents and the children of a country which prizes sporting achievement above almost every other area of public life.

“To all of my team-mates, to fans of cricket all over the world and to all Australians who are disappointed and angry. I’m deeply sorry,” he said, “I love the game of cricket, I love entertaining young kids, I love kids wanting to play the great game of cricket that I love.

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“If any good can come of this,” he added, “if there can be a lesson to others then I hope I can be a force for change. I know I’ll regret this for the rest of my life. I hope in time I can earn back respect and forgiveness.”

Smith is among the more affable of an Australian team often regarded collectively as arrogant and boorish. He prefers spending time analysing cricket videos in his hotel room than partying when on tour. But over the past week he has been vilified, boarding a flight from Johannesburg flanked by several burly South African policemen and clearly affected by jeers of “cheat, cheat, cheat”, from onlookers.

It was Sunday morning when the Australian public woke to news that their cricket team, which had previously enjoyed near-deity status, were embroiled in a cheating storm during a test match in South Africa. Talented 25-year-old batsman Cameron Bancroft had been reportedly coached by the famously divisive former captain David Warner how to use sandpaper to illegally rub the ball in pursuit of an advantageous reverse swing.

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Smith had turned a blind eye to the plan. It was caught on camera and has been replayed millions of times across the world in slow motion. Five days on and few figures in positions of power in Australia are yet to have their say.

The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said the cheating “beggars belief,” while former captain Michael Clarke said it was “like a bad dream”.

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During a remarkable five-minute address to the world’s media at Sydney airport, Smith appeared genuinely contrite and never more so that when reflecting on the affect the publicity has had on his dad Peter and mum Gillian. “To see the way my old man has been,” he said, pain etched on his face, “and my mum, it hurts. I just want to say I’m sorry for the pain I have brought to Australia and the fans and the public.”

Peter stood behind his son throughout the press conference and placed a comforting hand on his back. Some questioned whether the intensity of the reaction had grown out of kilter with the crime.

Lehmann has previously ordered his players to “headbutt” the line of what is acceptable on-field behaviour. He had performed a U-turn earlier in the week, promising his team would become the “nice guys” of world cricket under his watch but by Thursday, and after witnessing Smith’s distress, he concluded his position was untenable.

Wiping tears from his bloodshot eyes, Lehmann said: “The feeling is that Australian cricket needs to move forward and this is the right thing to do. I really felt for Steve, as I saw him crying in front of the media. I had no prior knowledge of the [ball-tampering] incident and do not condone what happened, but good people can make mistakes.”

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David Warner has emerged as the primary instigator of the ball-tampering plot but has remained almost silent on the issue. He posted on Twitter that he would soon have his say. At the arrivals hall of Sydney airport he paused briefly with wife Candice, each of them cradling one of the couple’s two infant children. “My priority is getting these kids to bed,” he said as a video camera was thrust in his face, presumably appealing to the Australian public’s forgiving side.

Warner has been given a 12-month ban by Cricket Australia and told he will never be assigned a leadership position again. Smith is also banned for a year while Bancroft will not represent his country for at least nine months. The damage to the reputation of the national team and Australian sport is unforeseeable but the financial implications are mounting.

There was a mass exodus of sponsors of both the international team and individual players on Thursday. Fund manager Magellan Financial Group tore up a three-year team-naming rights deal, which was only seven months old and reported to be worth about A$20m (£11m).

Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s biggest lender, said it was dropping Smith as an ambassador “in light of recent circumstances” and the 28-year-old, who had been captain since 2014, was also fired as a Weet-Bix brand ambassador.