Steve Smith did not know full ball-tampering plan: Report

Steve Smith was not fully aware of Australia's ball tampering plot. Smith did not know key elements of the plan until he saw the incident on the big screen, a Sydney Morning Herald report said quoting Cricket Australia's investigation into the matter.

CA investigation found that the sandpaper was used twice on the ball, claims the report. However, umpires didn't believe that the condition of the ball was sufficiently altered to warrant replacement. 

According to Fairfax Media (who co-own Sydney Morning Herald), investigators were told Smith did not know how the plan would be carried out. He became full aware of the plan after Bancroft was exposed on the big screen. 

The report said that the investigators found that Smith had expressed his dislike of the plan but did not attempt to stop it.

It also said that the sandpaper used in the incident had come from a kit bag though it's unclear who supplied it for use. 

CA had charged Smith with having "knowledge of a potential plan" to tamper with the ball but not taking "steps to seek to prevent the development and implementation of that plan".

Smith was stripped of the captaincy and suspended from playing domestic and international cricket for 12 months. Smith had accepted full responsibility for his role in the episode describing it as a "failure of his leadership". 

It has been said that David Warner was the mastermind of the whole ball-tampering plot. The former Test vice-captain on Saturday tearfully apologised for his role in the matter.

Warner repeatedly struggled to talk and tears ran down his face as he apologised to fans, team-mates, his family and the Australian public. But he also evaded questions about whether the ball-tampering plot was his idea, whether it was the first time, who else was aware of it and whether he had been made a scapegoat.