Ball tampering: The most infamous incidents in cricket

NEW DELHI: An already emotionally charged Test series between South Africa and Australia turned several shades darker on Saturday after Australian opener Cameron Bancroft was charged with altering the condition of the ball and skipper Steve Smith admitted that seniors within the team had hatched the plan to gain advantage of a Test match that was slipping away.
ALSO READ: Australia admit ball tampering in third Test against South Africa
Bancroft was picked up by TV camera putting a yellow object down the front of his pants before the two on-field umpires went to him and asked what was in his pockets.Not long after footage was shown in which Bancroft was seen rubbing the ball and then seemingly putting an object back in his right pocket.
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Addressing the media at the end of the third day's play, Bancroft admitted that he had tried to change the condition of the ball using a foreign object while his "embarrassed "captain Smith, seated next to him, took responsibility.
Ball tampering is a Level 2 offence in the ICC Code of Conduct, which carries a maximum 100 per cent fine and up to four demerit points, which equates to a one-Test suspension.
On that note, here's a look at the most controversial incidents related to ball-tampering in cricket.
- In 2016, during a Test match in Hobart, South Africa captain Faf du Plessis was found guilty of ball tampering by the ICC for using mints to alter the condition of the ball, but was cleared to play the next match. On that occasion, television footage had showed him shining the ball with a mint in his mouth. He pleaded not guilty to the charge but was fined his entire match fee for 'changing the condition of the ball in breach of Law 42.3'.
- In 2001, during India's acrimonious tour of South Africa, Sachin Tendulkar was fined 75 per cent of his match fee and suspended for one Test after the match referee Mike Denness alleged that he had tampered the ball. While TV cameras showed Tendulkar working on the seam of the ball during a Test match it was suggested that he had been merely cleaning some mud off the seam. However, Denness did not buy that logic and suspended Tendulkar. A storm ensured, with the Indian team threatening to quit the tour if the decision was not reversed. The BCCI boycotted the final match which was played and deemed an 'unofficial Test'.
- In 2002, Waqar Younis became the first bowler to cop a ban for ball tampering after footage showed him lifting the seam of the ball during an ODI in Sri Lanka. Waqar was handed a one-match ban while Azhar Mahmood, who was also seen gouging the side of the ball with thumbnails, was charged 30% of his match fee. Waqar was banned because of an earlier incident during a Test match on the same tour.
- In 1994, then England captain Michael Atherton was fined 2,000 pounds after TV pictures appeared to show him putting his hand into his pocket and then applying an illegal substance to the ball. Atherton denied doing so while saying that he was drying his hands on a hot and humid day, and was subsequently cleared from the charges. However, he later admitted that he had failed to inform the match referee that he had dried his hands on dirt which he was carrying in his pocket. Atherton was fined 1,000 pounds for 'using dirt' and other 1,000 pounds for 'giving incomplete information to the match referee'.

- In 2010, Shahid Afridi was handed a two-match ban after he was seen on TV chewing on one side of the cricket ball during an ODI in Perth. Afridi, leading Pakistan in that match, apologised after being caught biting the ball.

- Rahul Dravid was the other iconic Indian cricketer to be embroiled in tampering claims. In 2004, during an ODI in Australia, the then Indian vice-captain was charged for ball tampering and fined for rubbing a lozenge on one side of the ball. Footage showed Dravid running one side of the ball with his saliva and then peeling off a jelly like substance. While Dravid denied the allegations, he was fined half of his match fees with the match referee Clive Lloyd saying that the ploy from Dravid had been deliberate.