Mitchell Starc reveals anger at ball-tampering scandal fallout

[Abdullah719]

THERE had been several reports about Mitchell Starc’s fury at his teammates following the ball-tampering scandal that rocked Australian cricket.

Now we’ve finally heard from the man himself.

The Australian has exclusively revealed Starc’s frustration at the rushed press conference held by Steven Smith and Cameron Bancroft after cameras had revealed Bancroft was using sandpaper to tamper with the ball during the third Test in South Africa.

Unaware of the huge public fallout that would follow, Smith fronted the media after day three and said the team’s leadership group — which fast bowlers Starc and Josh Hazlewood are a part of — was behind the tactic.

A Cricket Australia investigation held Smith, Bancroft and vice-captain David Warner responsible for the ploy and the Australian bowling unit has firmly denied any knowledge of what was happening.

According to The Australian, Starc confirmed the fractures in the team caused by the press conference while speaking at a Women in Banking and Finance forum in Sydney where corporate adviser Sue Cato warned of the pitfalls awaiting those who didn’t fully plan ahead of press conferences.

“Going back to what Sue said before about being upfront and tackling a problem head on, that’s something the group who decided to go into a press conference didn’t really think about,” Starc said.

“They obviously didn’t see how big the reaction was going to be at that time and then went down the path of not telling the whole truth and then I guess involving another group, which ruined — well, not ruined — but affected other reputations.”

The report of Starc’s comments follow Hazlewood’s firm denial of any knowledge of the plot during an appearance on Fox Sports’ The Back Page this week.

The opening quick explained how the bowlers would not be aware of specific changes made to the ball.

“We obviously have ball maintenance people in the team, usually batsmen because they are in the circle and the bowlers field at fine leg,” he said. “They look after the ball from time to time and if it stops swinging, normally it starts to reverse swing.

“We pretty much get it at the top of our mark one second before we start running in. We have a quick look to see which side of the ball is more worn than the other.”

Spinner Nathan Lyon also reiterated his disbelief at the whole situation in a wide-ranging interview with cricket.com.au.

“I don’t know what to say about that tour,” Lyon said. “No-one saw it coming and to be honest with you, if you ask me in 10 years’ time, I still won’t know the answer.”

https://www.news.com.au/sport/crick...t/news-story/1a1e0c9292748720a5eeb939c1ac8d9c

 

[hadi123]

Must not be nice for the team culture when something like this happens.

 

[Syed1]

Dang it my sandpaper days are over - Starc

 

[Mirpur express]

Yeah gutted that the banana swing won’t happen now lol they all know including the coach

 

[troodon]

Pacers would have known what was going on. Yet they remained silent.

 

[ads101]

I think probably the whole team knew. Bowlers will see a sudden change in the ball. And the bastsmen on the field will know to pass/leave the ball to the appropriate fielders for the tamper.

Ironically the person I feel was least likely to know was the coach. Because he's not on the field so can't see anything. I actually believe Lehmann didn't know anything about it even though eventually he had to resign as a result. Lehmann also ran the bigger risk, if he was found guilty of instructing players to tamper, he might never get another coaching gig again. So less likely to tell players to tamper. While the players would get short bans at most, the punishment was probably more severe than expected.

I think every team does tampering to some degree in tests, it's pretty much just accepted.

 

[the Great Khan]

they all knew or preferred to turn a blind eye. What really gets me riled up is how all of these white teams were sooo holier than though when Pakistan were being accused. So i have zero sympathy for any of these.

 

[Buffet]

Having played cricket as pacer, it's simply impossible for a bowler to not know if ball is being tampered. If it's done once or twice then you can miss, but not when it's done consistently. Just my opinion and others can hold a different view.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Having played cricket as pacer, it's simply impossible for a bowler to not know if ball is being tampered. If it's done once or twice then you can miss, but not when it's done consistently. Just my opinion and others can hold a different view.

Starc is angry Smith wanted to take him down aswell. Obviously he knew very well that the ball was being tampered with. Might even have been a chief instigator

 

[fawad_wellwisher]

Spinner Nathan Lyon also reiterated his disbelief at the whole situation in a wide-ranging interview with cricket.com.au.

“I don’t know what to say about that tour,” Lyon said. “No-one saw it coming and to be honest with you, if you ask me in 10 years’ time, I still won’t know the answer.”

or choose not to ...

Don't worry the next few test series should tell us what you don't want to say.

 

[Dingolfy]

I think this is not true, as a bowler handling that cherry for most of the time, you should be knowing what is happening with that. Starc is lying through his teeth and it is not that difficult to see through him.

 

[pratiktc]

Starc and co. were just unhappy that Smith threw them all under the bus rather than copping one for the team. There is no way the bowlers didn't know.

Highlights just how much of a schmuck Smith must be as captain. Good thing he'll never lead again

 

[Bewal Express]

Wasnt unhappy after he was hooping the ball around corners in Durban due to the tampering.

 

[Napa]

Starc and co. were just unhappy that Smith threw them all under the bus rather than copping one for the team. There is no way the bowlers didn't know.

Highlights just how much of a schmuck Smith must be as captain. Good thing he'll never lead again

Why exactly is Smith a schmuck when he took the fall protecting teammates like Starc?

 

[kingusama92]

Straight lies.

It doesn't take a genius to know when a ball is being tampered with. Especially when sandpaper is involved.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Such lies. ) I really feel bad for Smith . He seems to be the only Australian cricketer with even an ounce of integrity.

 

[Gilly]

And if they were Pakistani everyone would be defending them, I guess your skin color does matter.

 

[pratiktc]

Why exactly is Smith a schmuck when he took the fall protecting teammates like Starc?

Where did Smith take the fall? In the interview just after the incident he kept saying "leadership group", thus alluding that him and others were involved. He didn't even have guts to admit to sandpaper and cooked up cock and bull story about sticky tape.

The ACB review nailed Warner as instigator and sandpaper as means. Smith was rightly convicted for passively allowing it to happen despite being captain

Rest of bowlers and all were probably passively aware but let off with warning as evidence was inconclusive. Smith didn't heroically shield anyone from anything.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

And if they were Pakistani everyone would be defending them, I guess your skin color does matter.

A cheat is a cheat! no two ways about it my friend. You can casually pass off racist remarks on a whim but nothing will change the fact that it is impossible for a Fast bowler to not know if a ball has been tampered with.

Mate, get your house in order before pointing fingers at others!

 

[TQ89]

Lol this belongs in the "Humari london me to kia, pakistan me b koi property nhi he" category of bad lying.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

I don’t believe that he didn’t know about the tampering.

 

[Sidilicious]

And if they were Pakistani everyone would be defending them, I guess your skin color does matter.

A cheat is a cheat. No 2 ways about it. Be it an Indian, Pakistani or an Aussie. A ball temperer is a cheat. Just as the Pakistanis bowlers used to, the Aussies were clearly involved in ball tampering.

A bowler will obviously see the detoriation in the ball and that too when it has sandpaper applied to it. Clearly Stark and Hazelwood were in the know.

What I do think is that this was Lehmann‘s plan. He is no angel and has been involved in planned cheating (or atleast planned unfair tactics) such as those used when Smith tried to check whether he should use DRS.

 

[Napa]

Where did Smith take the fall? In the interview just after the incident he kept saying "leadership group", thus alluding that him and others were involved.

Smith did not name names.

 

[Savage]

Smith did not name names.

Aww Such a great leader.You might also think he should be nominated for bravery award for such a noble act.

No player(with a brain) in his position would've revealed names.It would be naive to think there would've been no consequence otherwise like impact on respect that he gets amongst players or Revealed names would've just kept their mouth shut and sung praises of Smith in response etc.Actually He is the reason why CA had to reveal names ,Infact name(warner) thanks to CA not names which Smith clearly insinuated with "leadership group" excuse at Press Conference.