Steve Smith Downplays Ball-Tampering Allegations

Australia skipper Steve Smith has laughed off any suggestion of ball tampering after the footage emerged, showing him wiping his lip before shining the ball during the third One-Day International against England on Sunday (January 21).

The questionable incident had occurred in the 34th over of England’s innings when Smith was seen applying something to the ball. His wiping of the lips made many believe that the Australia skipper was applying lip balm to the ball, but the 28-year old denied the allegations.

Steve Smith responds to questions raised over whether he used lip balm to polish the ball in Sunday's #AUSvENG ODI pic.twitter.com/QHxbN6fqJA

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 21, 2018

The incident sparked an instant social media reaction before Smith made the matter crystal clear during the press-conference when he was shown the video.

“It was all spit,” Smith said. “People said something about lip balm. If you look at my lips they’re pretty dry, I certainly didn’t have any of that on.

“It’s just the way I get some spit into the side of my mouth and get some spit on to the ball. There was nothing in it,” he added.

The issue of ball tampering has dominated Australian summer in recent seasons. In 2016, South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis was captured using mint to shine the ball during the Hobart Test. The Proteas star had appealed his charge of ball tampering but had lost it and was subsequently fined his entire match fee and given three demerit points

Recently, during the Ashes, England pacer James Anderson was shown using his thumbnail on the ball during the Boxing Day Test. However, the matter was later played down by ICC match Ranjan Madugalle.

Meanwhile, England defeated the beleaguered hosts by 16 runs to win the third game and take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. Sent in to bat first, England were off to a shaky start and were reeling at 107 for 4 before a 65-run stand between skipper Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler steadied the ship.

Buttler went on to complete his century off 83 deliveries on the last ball of the innings and was well supported by Chris Woakes (53 off 36) as the duo shared an unbeaten stand of 113 runs to help England recover from the poor start and post 302 for 6 in the allotted 50 overs.

In reply, Australia could only manage 286 for 6 despite the fifties from Aaron Finch, Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis.

Here is the news feed:

SA vs IND 2018: “There will be ample pace and bounce”- Wanderers Curator

AUS Vs ENG, 2018: Furious Steven Smith weighs up for the video umpire catch ruling

Follow the ODI series here: Australia Vs England, 2018