Integrity of cricket swings into reverse after ‘tapegate’

There has only been one topic of conversation in Australian sport this week — the ball tampering antics of the Australian cricket team in their Test series against South

Last Sunday, as thousands of Australian kids were ferried around to various sporting events, the news from South Africa left sports coaches and parents trying to explain as best they could why Steve Smith, the captain of the Australian cricket team, cheated.

Smith, along with vice-captain David Warner, asked a team-mate, Cameron Bancroft, to use a piece of sandpaper to grit one side of the ball in the hope of manipulating its trajectory (reverse swing), thus making it harder for the South African batsmen.