Sydney: Australian captain Steve Smith has shot down suggestions of ball-tampering after video of him using saliva from the corner of his mouth during Sunday’s one-day loss to England raised eyebrows.
Smith laughed off the reaction, after watching a replay of the video, and said it was his standard technique for maintaining the shine of the white ball with no assistance from any foreign substance.
“It was all spit. People said something about lip balm. If you look at my lips they are pretty dry. I certainly didn’t have any of that (lip balm) on,” he told reporters Monday. “It is just the way I get the spit into the side of my mouth and get some spit onto the ball. There was nothing in it.”
England last month blasted ball-tampering allegations against them as a ‘beat-up’ after footage of England bowler James Anderson working the ball with his thumbnail drew suspicions during the Ashes Test in Melbourne. The allegations had been made by former former Australian test players Shane Warne and Michael Slater suggested it was not allowed.
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