Australia stoops to new low

Footage is damming that ball tampering has occurred with Australia in the field, “looks” like Bancroft is using sandpaper on the ball

If proven (will be) this is disgraceful & not only should Bancroft go so should Smith & Lehmann

Not a great time For Australian cricket

What a bunch of tossers. Isn't it past time we looked to sportspeople to be role models and just treated them as being physically talented?

All the “cricket tragics” from this forum are very quiet on this topic, on this sad day in Australian cricket

Ban Smith , yes
Ban Warner , Yes
Ban croft , no , he has not played test cricket since 1982

Sorry I've been away a few days.

Firstly, what was Smith thinking? A brain fade of epic proportion.

Smith
Being stood aside from Captaincy - yes
Match ban - yes
100% match fee fine - yes
Ongoing after CA review - I think the above is enough.

Bancroft lucky not to have the same fate as Smith. Maybe CA will do more after review.

Warner, should never be in a leadership group again. Plays Cricket like a pro-boxer. Let him worry about batting only.

Any others involved.
I guess CA will deal with that. Too early to tell until it all gets reviewed. One would hope Boof didn't know.

However, when put in perspective, and not using KG's extreme emotions, have we forgotten the following prior ball tamperings;

Atherton - guilty of using dirt in his pocket on the ball - retained Captaincy
Philander - guilty
Du Plessis - guilty twice! Still Captain

So whilst the Aussies have brought a bad look on the game, I would think that South Africa should be a bit circumspect in what they say from here on.

However, this could set Australian Cricket back a while. After Smith, natural captains aren't exactly falling off trees. And if the rest of the leadership group gets tarnished with this incident, then that's half your side that will unlikely get considered.

Things will move on in time, but in the meantime, dark days ahead I think.

I don't think any country can really claim the moral high ground in Cricket these days, but to take a foreign item onto the field with the sole purpose of cheating accompanied by the scenes of trying to hide it, it's a shocking look.

I know to many this will be seen as going overboard, but personally I'd prefer Smith never played for Australia again (or at the very least copped a year out of the game).

We have reached an all time low. We are always quick to judge others when they are in this situation, but the truth be known, we are CHEATS.

Someone needs to be held accountable. Smith, Warner, Bancroft and Lehman are obviously in the firing line, but I think Sutherland may be also. He has let this team get out of control.......a bit of a case too big for their boots.

Today's continuance of this unfortunate saga is that Boof has decided to stand down. We still await confirmation as to why.

However, I guess irrespective of any direct involvement in it, if you've presided over a team that has had such a tumultuous series for the wrong reasons, you have to collect some blame for whatever has led them astray.

I think most Aussie cricket followers could mount a case for a new direction being required in a number of key areas.
- attitude
- sportsmanship
- resilience

In the frenzy of saying "we play hard and take no sideways steps", they lost the message that they are a national treasure in a culture where when you pull on a baggy green you are more than a sportsman. Even if you forget all that "role model" bs that is too easily thrown about by media and just about everyone else, to a nation that has always revered its national cricket team, you sully that privilege with these ongoing bully-boy tactics.

It is time to well and truly pull their collective heads in, stop gabbing on incessantly and deliver in a manner that befits the expectations of a nation and equally importantly, their substantial wage.

This boil-over has been brewing for some time, and I guess it was not known exactly what form it was going to take, but perhaps the ball tampering is just a symptom of the problem and may end up being the catalyst for a holistic change in how the team is managed and prepared.

So now Boof hasn't stood down.
I read today the bowlers all hate Warner and it is reported that he was the mastermind of this affair.

A team divided indeed.

At this rate the 4th test looms as an innings and 400 run defeat. I doubt any of them want to be there right now,

Some pretty ordinary performances in that last Test. Hazelwood didn't take a wicket. Mitch Marsh 14 overs 0/70 to go with 4 and 0 with the bat. Think some of our guys had checked out of the hotel already.

I think they all just about had checked out.

This is in part the problem.
We have shown this brittleness in the past and that we're ok as front runners but when the going gets a bit tough we tend to falter.

It is certainly time to overall the team culture from top to bottom.

Hopefully some good can come from this sorry unfortunate saga.