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All The Teams That Have Been Accused Of Ball Tampering, India Included

Ball-tampering is one of the many ways a fielding team sometimes tries to do to gain an unfair advantage by changing the condition of the ball in illegal ways.  The fielding team tries to alter the c

Sahil Mathur
By Sahil Mathur May 16, 2021 • 17:15 PM
Cricket Image for All The Teams That Have Been Accused Of Ball Tampering, India Included
Cricket Image for All The Teams That Have Been Accused Of Ball Tampering, India Included (Image Source: Google)
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Ball-tampering is one of the many ways a fielding team sometimes tries to do to gain an unfair advantage by changing the condition of the ball in illegal ways. 

The fielding team tries to alter the condition of the ball which will help it move and trouble the batters. There can be many ways to tamper with the condition of the ball such as roughing it with sandpaper, use mints, boot spikes, or if you are brave enough then bite it with your teeth. 

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The punishment which ICC has decided for this offense comes under law 41, in which five runs awarded to the batting team and if the team desires the ball can also be changed by the umpires. Depending upon the level of offense, the accused player(s) can be banned for the following few games as per the interpretation of the match referee. 

Here are all the teams that have been accused of ball-tampering in International cricket: 

1) Australia - In 2012, in the first test, the Sri Lankan team raised a complaint against Australian bowler Peter Siddle for trying to raise the seam of the ball. Siddle was however cleared by ICC eventually without facing any charges. 

The infamous 2018 'ball-tampering scandal' happened against South Africa in the third test. Cameron Bancroft was caught using sandpaper to roughen one side of the ball. He along with Australia's then captain and Vice-captain - Steve Smith and David Warner - faced charges for the act. The ICC gave Smith a one-match ban and 100% of match fees were charged as a penalty while Bancroft was charged 75% of his fees. However, after a public outcry, the trio got faced additional charges by Cricket Australia. Smith and Warner were banned for one year while Bancroft for 9 months. 

2) England - In 1994, then England captain Michael Atherton was caught rubbing something on the ball during a test match against South Africa at Lord's. However, Atherton denied the ball-tampering act, saying there was 'dirt in his pocket'. He got summoned by the Match referee for lying and got charged 2000 euros. 

In the Ashes 2005, Marcus Trescothick admitted, after three years, to using Murray mints to shine the ball to keep the ball new for a longer period. 

In 2010, James Anderson and Stuart Broad were accused of ball-tampering. South Africans complained that the two bowlers were stopping the ball with boot spikes. However, no charges were requested by SA. 


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