Australia captain Steve Smith and batsman Cameron Bancroft have both admitted to ball tampering on day three of the third Test agains South Africa in Cape Town.
Bancroft, during the second session on Saturday, was captured by TV cameras with a yellow object in his hand.
The 25 year old having been alerted that the umpires were aware of his actions, put the tape down the front of his pants before the standing officials inspected the contents of his pockets.
He admitted after play that it was a piece of tape with chunks of the pitch on the sticky side, used to rough up the ball in an effort to generate reverse swing.
Bancroft was subsequently charged by match referee Andy Pycroft with a Level 2 offense of attempting to alter the condition of the ball.
The fear in Lehman’s eyes… #balltampering pic.twitter.com/veK9O7spl0
— Jason Knight (@JasonAKnight) March 24, 2018
Possible sanctions include a fine of his match fee anywhere between 50 and 100 per cent, with either three or four demerit points added to his record. Four demerit points would trigger an automatic one-Test ban.
Smith meanwhile said the leadership group devised the plan at the lunch interval without the knowledge of the coaching staff.
Smith said he will not step down as captain.
“Obviously, today was a big mistake on my behalf and on the leadership group’s behalf as well,” Smith told reporters late after play on Saturday.
“But I take responsibility as the captain, I need to take control of the ship, but this is certainly something I’m not proud of and something that I can hope learn from and come back strong from.
“I am embarrassed to be sitting here talking about this.
South Africa ended the third day in Cape Town on 238-5 in their second innings, a lead of 294 runs.