Ball-tampering scandal will not affect South Africa's relations with Australia: SA Team Manager Moosajee

South Africa has taken a 2-1 lead in the most controversial four-match Test series.

Cameron Bancroft admitted he had used the yellow tape before rubbing the ball | Getty Images

South Africa team manager –Mohammed Moosajee does not think the ball-tampering scandal will hurt the relations between the Proteas board and Cricket Australia (CA).

According to a report in Reuters, Moosajee told reporters in Cape Town, “I don’t think it will hurt the relations between the two boards. The process is now in the hands of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The fact that Australia have admitted to what they have done... there is no place for that in cricket at all. They will go through an internal process as well. We leave it to the ICC to make the call on what the next steps are and what the sanction will be.”

However, Australian skipper Steve Smith admitted that they have tampered with the ball on the third day of the Cape Town Test, which won by the hosts by 323 runs. Later, Smith banned from the fourth and the final Test on 30 January against South Africa.

On the other hand, Moosajee believes that Smith had no choice except to accept his mistake as television pictures showed that fielder Cameron Bancroft used the yellow tape before rubbing the ball.

He added, “When the evidence is as damning as it was, it is sometimes better just to plea and come clean. That is probably what they were thinking. There are so many cameras these days, if people are trying to do something untoward it is only a matter of time before they will be exposed.”

Meanwhile, Moosajee was not happy with umpires Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth for not changing the ball after compelling evidence of ball tampering. He signed off by saying, “From my understanding of the rules, if there was evidence (of ball tampering) like there was for everyone to see, then they should have changed the ball and a five-run penalty awarded.”

 
 

By Rashmi Nanda - 26 Mar, 2018

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