Image of Australian cricket has been tarnished

All those who have looked up to Australian cricket as the benchmark will now think twice before following them. The act of stupidity by their opener Cameron Bancroft, encouraged by the captain Steve Smith and the 'leadership team' on Day 3 of the Cape Town Test has left the Australian cricket fans, and cricket lovers the world over, cheated.

'Ugly Aussies', 'Cheaters' are the words that crosses the mind when it comes to thinking of Australian cricket after the latest scandal.

"The act is incondonable", said a member of the Cricket Club of India as the 'sandpapergate' became the talking point of everyone on Sunday morning even as the Indian batters were going after the England bowling in the women's tri-series. "South Africa should be awarded the Test," said another member. "Captain Smith should be banned," voiced a third.

Such are the strong feelings of cricket lovers across the world that the Australian cricket team will not be admired from now on for their brand of cricket. It will take a long while to rub the scars and begin to be accepted by the cricket world again.

All the talk of wearing the Baggy Green with great pride, their talk of playing cricket in the right spirit went down the drain by Bancroft's well-masterminded act of tampering with the ball.

Why, in the first place, did Australia's leadership team think of even altering the condition of the ball? The series has had its share of drama and excitement. Any Australia vs South Africa series is not without its anxious moments. But, Saturday's act has surpassed all of them in terms of bringing a kind of hatred towards the Australians.

Of course, the authorities are dealing with the offenders and punishment meted out. Bancroft has been awarded three demerit points and fined 75 per cent of his match fee while Smith has been fined full match fee and suspended for one Test.

Smith and Bancroft may have got away lightly. Especially, when the controversy has even shaken the Australian government so much so that it asked Cricket Australia to remove Steve Smith as captain, and its Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull slamming the team for "cheating".

Agreed, Saturday was not the first instance of the ball being tampered with. But, in today's world of advanced technology and the cameras not missing anything on the field, how could Bancroft be stupid enough to even think of doing anything illegal in the open and getting away with it?

For Australia to even think of doing it, does it undermine the abilities of their four-pronged bowling attack that won them the Ashes recently or that have been feared across the world? Their explanation of nothing happening on the pitch and hence altering the condition of the ball belies the Australian spirit that they are so proud to show to the world.

Smith may be the No. 1 Test batsman and a successful captain. But his second act of stupidity in successive years – the "brain fade" during the second Test against India in Bengaluru looking at the dressing room to seek help for DRS just over a year ago – will not be wiped for a long time to come.

Smith and Bancroft's act has tarnished the image of Australian cricket and affected even those within the team who may not have been part of it.