New Delhi:
Cricket Australia gave stern punishments to Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft in relation to ball-tampering scandal which happened at Newlands Test last week. But Coach Darren Lehmann was spared by Cricket Australia over a walkie-talkie conversation with 12th man Peter Handscomb.
Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland stated that Lehmann had no idea about the incident on the field. According Sutherland, “What the f**k is going on” were the words Lehmann used while speaking on the walkie-talkie.
“It is understood and it has been verified by others that on the walkie-talkie he said… you guys probably saw it, the first time anyone knew about it was when it came up on the vision screen,” Sutherland told reporters in Johannesburg.
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“He saw that and he radioed down and he said ‘what the f*** is going on?’ He said to Handscomb: ‘Find out what the f*** is going on’, he added.
“Beyond that, I would like to just touch on that he brought everyone into the room when the next break was [at tea]. He basically went through everyone and went ‘what is going on?’
The event took place during South Africa’s innings in Newlands Test when Bancroft was spotted on the big screen holding a small yellow tape, rubbing the rough part of the ball before hiding the object inside his trousers.