London Australian cricket has once again engulfed in allegations of ball-tempering when on Sunday spinner Adam Zampa was caught on camera putting his hand into his pocket and then rubbing the ball several times.
A video of Zampa went viral on social media during India match at The Oval forcing the Aussie captain Aaron Finch to address the matter in post-match news conference.
The incident came just a year after Australia stars Warner and Steve Smith, as well as team-mate Cameron Bancroft were banned for their roles in a ball-tampering scheme during a Test in South Africa.
HAS @ICC started inquiry about Adam Zampa footage for possible use of Sand paper or other violation of code of conduct? @CricketAus @BCCI #Zampa
— Amit Pujara (@pujaraamit) June 10, 2019
@ICC @BCCI
What was Adam Zampa doing in yesterday match?#AdamZampa pic.twitter.com/Adq6Ma3T7l— Vivek Sharma (@viv3k_sharma) June 10, 2019
After the match, however, skipper Aaron Finch rubbished the ball-tampering allegations and said that the leggie had hand warmers in his pockets, which he carries in every game.
“I haven’t seen the photos, but I know that he has hand warmers in his pocket. He has them every single game he plays. I honestly haven’t seen them, so I can’t comment too much on it. But I know for a fact that he has hand warmers every game,” Finch told the reporters at the post-match press conference.
The media clippings immediately brought back memories of the Newlands Test between South Africa and Australia last year when Cameron Bancroft was caught rubbing sandpaper on the ball on the big screen at the ground. Steve Smith and David Warner were handed one-year bans by Cricket Australia while Bancroft was handed a nine-month ban by the cricket body.
What was Zampa trying to do? ? #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/TcCVyvHkIB
— MusaiB Khan (@imusaibkhan) June 9, 2019