* Smith under huge pressure to stand down * CA boss says will probe incident * Australia's reputation in tatters
Australian Sports Commission has called for Steve Smith to give up his captaincy in the light of ball-tampering admission.
In a statement released on Sunday, ASC said, " Given the admission by Australian captain Steve Smith, the ASC calls for him to be stood down immediately by Cricket Australia, along with any other members of the team leadership group or coaching staff who had prior awareness of, or involvement in, the plan to tamper with the ball."
Australian Sports Commission Chair John Wylie, the ASC Board and CEO Kate Palmer said in that statement, "The ASC condemns cheating of any form in sport. The ASC expects and requires that Australian teams and athletes demonstrate unimpeachable integrity in representing our country.
"The Australian cricket team are iconic representatives of our country. The example they set matters a great deal to Australia and to the thousands of young Australians playing or enjoying the sport of cricket and who look up to the national team as role models."
Cricket Australia (CA) had said that it will not make a decision about the future of Steve Smith's captaincy until it completes a probe into stunning ball-tampering revelations that have plunged the test team into crisis, CEO James Sutherland said on Sunday.
Sutherland's comments came as a shocked nation digested news from South Africa that Smith and senior players conspired to change the condition of the ball using sticky tape and grit from the pitch during the third test in Cape Town.
Smith has said he was "embarrassed" by the scandal but had no intention of stepping down as skipper.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the incident a "shocking disappointment" and said he had urged CA Chairman David Peever to take prompt and decisive action.
"I have to say that the whole nation which holds those who wear the 'baggy green' up on a pedestal about as high as you can get in Australia, certainly higher than any politician that's for sure, this is a shocking disappointment," he told reporters. "It's wrong and I look forward to Cricket Australia taking decisive action soon."
Former players and pundits have called on Smith to step down immediately, describing his position as "untenable".
Sutherland, however, said the 28-year-old would continue to lead the side while the investigation played out.
"Steve Smith is currently the captain of the Australian team," Sutherland told reporters in front of a huge media scrum outside CA's Melbourne offices.
"We are working through a process and once we have a clearer picture of the facts and understand things once (CA head of integrity) Iain (Roy) submits his report we will be in a better position to make further comment."
Smith, who has led the team since 2015 and is their best batsman, confessed to reporters in Cape Town on Saturday that the ball-tampering had been orchestrated by himself and senior players.
Opening batsman Cameron Bancroft, the most junior member in the side at 25, was tasked with implementing the plan and was duly caught on camera using the tape.
He has been charged by the International Cricket Council (ICC), which could lead to a one-match ban and a 100% fine of his match fee.
The cost to Australia's reputation is immeasurably higher, however, with former players across the globe branding the team cheats and fans castigating the players on social media.
(With Reuters Inputs)
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