How Australia cricket team hatched a plan to cheat

Agencies
March 25, 2018

Cape Town, Mar 25: The reputation of Australia's cricket team is in tatters after captain Steve Smith confessed to coming up with a plan with senior players to cheat South Africa by tampering with the ball in the third Test.

Smith and Cameron Bancroft, the fielder chosen to carry out the tampering, admitted to cheating after Bancroft was caught on television using a piece of sticky tape to rub dirt into the ball, then trying to hide the tape down his trousers when umpires suspected something was up.

Here's a look at what happened on Saturday at Newlands.

THE PLAN

At the lunch break on the third day of the third Test in Cape Town, Australia are in trouble. South Africa lead by over 100 runs with just one wicket down, look set to forge further ahead, and the ball isn't doing much to help Australia. With the series 1-1 with one more Test to play after Cape Town, it's a crucial moment in a battle between the archrivals.

Skipper Smith and other senior Australia players - Smith referred to them as the “leadership group'' but refused to name them - decide they will tamper with the ball when play restarts, a desperate attempt to get it to reverse swing and give their struggling bowlers an advantage. Smith said no members of the coaching staff knew about the players' intentions.

The Australians get some yellow sticky tape from a team kit bag, see if they can get some loose dirt from the pitch stuck to it when they're back out on the field, and then use it to rough up the ball.

THE MAN

Bancroft, an opening batsman in his eighth Test, is chosen as the player to do the tampering because he is in the vicinity of the discussion between the senior players in the dressing room, according to Smith.

Confessing later, Bancroft said he was “in the wrong place at the wrong time'' but denied he was pressured into doing it. As a fairly low-profile player, Bancroft appears to be a good person to do the tampering as he wouldn't normally attract too much attention when Australia is fielding.

STICKY POSITION

Sure enough, Bancroft hides the sticky tape in the pocket of his trousers. When he gets the chance, he collects some “granules'' beside the pitch, sticks them to the tape, and uses it on the ball.

The problem is he's caught red-handed by television cameras, and it's replayed over and over on the big screen, in close up and slow-motion. The embarrassing images are also replayed on TVs all around the world.

Panicking when the on-field umpires become interested, Bancroft resorts to hiding the offending piece of yellow tape down the front of his trousers. He produces a harmless sunglasses bag from his pocket when approached by the umpires, and appears to have gotten away with it. But his desperate attempt to hide the evidence in his underwear is also caught by TV, and replayed multiple times.

THE CONFESSION

Australia announce they won't be doing normal interviews immediately after the day's play with the host broadcasters, and appearing only at a news conference, at which it is unusually very late.

With overwhelming video evidence against them, Smith and Bancroft face the music at the conference, admitting everything in front of yet more television cameras. Smith said the players were desperate to try and gain some advantage because “we saw this game as such an important game.''

THE FALLOUT

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland has refused to take any immediate action against captain Steve Smith over the ball-tampering scandal, saying Sunday an investigative team has been sent to South Africa to look into all aspects before deciding what action to take.

Sutherland also refused to make comment on Steve Smith's long-term position as captain on Sunday, a position Smith, while embarrassed and regretful, had said he would not resign from.

“I still think I'm the right person for the job,'' Smith said. “Obviously today was a big mistake.''

That would be a steep and sudden fall for Smith, currently the top Test batsman in the world and the man who led Australia to a 4-0 Ashes rout just two months ago.

Misconduct charges brought by the International Cricket Council are also likely to be released on Sunday. Bancroft said he's been charged for ball tampering, which carries a penalty of 3-4 disciplinary points. If Bancroft receives the higher end of the punishment, he will be banned for the final Test in Johannesburg.

Also intriguing is the role of Smith and the rest of the “leadership group.'' They could also face charges of bringing the game into disrepute. If vice-captain David Warner was part of the group, a logical presumption as the second most senior player in the team, a single demerit point would see him also banned for the final Test. That could leave Australia without both of its opening batsmen.

The bigger picture is the public back home in Australia, who woke up to the embarrassing news. Australia's cricket team is its biggest sports team and as fiercely supportive as Australians are, they are also fiercely critical if the team has done wrong.

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News Network
June 20,2020

Dhaka, Jun 20: Former Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza on Saturday tested positive for coronavirus.

The skipper had gone for a coronavirus Test last week, and now his reports have come back as positive, ESPNCricinfo reported.

As per a report in ESPNCricinfo, it is not known how Mortaza contracted the virus.

Mashrafe, also a member of the parliament from Narail 2 constituency, had stepped down as the ODI captain of the country in March this year.

Covid-19 cases have crossed 1,00,000 mark in Bangladesh and the government is now planning area-wise lockdown.

Bangladesh was slated to face Sri Lanka in July in a three-Test series and the side would have later hosted New Zealand in August, but both series look unlikely now.

The Asia Cup, scheduled for September, is also uncertain due to the coronavirus.

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News Network
January 9,2020

New Delhi, Jan 9: The Union government has removed the central security cover of Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Paneerselvam and DMK leader M K Stalin, officials said on Thursday.

They said while Paneerselvam had a smaller 'Y+' cover of central paramilitary commandos, Stalin had a larger 'Z+' protection.

The security cover of these two politicians has been taken off from the central security list after a threat assessment review was made by central security agencies and approved by the Union home ministry, they said.

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) commandos were protecting these two leaders of Tamil Nadu.

However, they said, the central security cover will be formally taken off after the state police takes over their security task, they added.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

Dubai, Jan 11: India opener KL Rahul has retained the sixth position while skipper Virat Kohli and left-hander Shikhar Dhawan have advanced one place each in the latest ICC Men's T20I player rankings after the conclusion of the series against Sri Lanka.

India won the T20I series 2-0 with one match getting washed out. Rahul, the highest-ranked Indian batsman, has gained 26 points and is now at the sixth spot with 760 rating points.

Rahul is just six points behind Australia's Glenn Maxwell after scores of 45 and 54 in his two innings against Sri Lanka.

Kohli, top-ranked in Tests and ODIs, is in the ninth position while Dhawan is on 15th. Manish Pandey has advanced four places and is ranked at the 70th.

India's fast bowlers have made notable gains in the first T20I update of the year and would be encouraged as they prepare for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia.

Player of the series Navdeep Saini has rocketed from 146 places to 98th while Shardul Thakur has re-entered in 92nd position after both finished with five wickets in the series. Jaspreet Bumrah has gained eight places to reach the 39th position.

For Sri Lanka, Dhananjaya de Silva has gained 72 places to reach 115th among batsmen after aggregating 74 runs while spinner Lakshan Sandakan has moved up 10 places to reach 29th position after grabbing three wickets in the series.

In the ICC Men's team rankings, India have gained two points but remain at fifth position with 260 points, while Sri Lanka have lost two points and now have 236 points and are at the eighth spot.

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