'Serious WTF Moment', James Sutherland Says About Ball Tampering Scandal

Former Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland admits it was a serious WTF moment after the ball-tampering scandal. Sutherland believes he could have lessened the fall out had he intervened earlier. Sutherland had served Australian cricket for a long period of 17 years. However, he decided to step down from his role after the aftermath of the controversial incident.

Meanwhile, Sutherland had missed the press conference in which Steven Smith and Cameron Bancroft had tried to cover the truth. However, Sutherland went on to miss the incident when Cameron Bancroft altered the condition of the ball with a sandpaper. Sutherland had switched off his TV.

Cricket Australia is dealing with repercussions.

“At a guess, it would’ve been about midnight I suppose (that he turned off the TV) but, yeah, I wish I was watching, absolutely,” he told ESPNcricinfo in an interview.

“It was a serious WTF moment there. I’d like to think that my judgment and possibly influence would have meant that the media conference would have gone slightly differently. As we know, that was part of the penalty and the severity of the penalty was to some extent related or at least was consequential in terms of how that was handled — not telling the truth, or not telling the whole truth.”

On the other hand, James Sutherland was heartbroken by the whole events. In fact, the build-up to Cape Town wasn’t great. David Warner had a spat with Quinton de Kock while both teams were going back into their respective pavilions.

“I was heartbroken by the events that happened. I think that in some ways I totally understand that in the heat of battle things can boil over and go awry and there can be regrettable incidents,” he said.

“Part of the extent of my disappointment around Cape Town is heightened by what happened earlier in the series. My feeling that there were warning signals. There were lots of other things going on, and some disgraceful behavior during the Port Elizabeth Test, provocation by opposition fans but also administrators from the opposition team.”

Cricket Australia is suffering as Steven Smith and David Warner were their best players. Thus, their absence has had a big impact on their performances. Furthermore, the current players have also gone through the mental torture.