Hussain slams Australian ‘double standards’ over ball scandal

LONDON: Ex-England skipper Nasser Hussain says the premeditated nature of Australia’s ball-tampering sets it apart from previous cases of cheating in cricket and is adamant that captain Steve Smith must shoulder lots of the blame.

Smith, 28, was banned for one Test by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after admitting he and a group of his players planned ball tampering during the third Test against South Africa.

He is expected to face a harsh sanction from Cricket Australia for his role in the plot, which saw team-mate Cameron Bancroft tamper with the ball by using yellow sticky tape, before desperately trying to conceal the evidence down the front of his trousers.

“Ball-tampering has always been part of the game, so we should be careful not to get too holier-than-thou,” Hussain wrote in a column for Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper.“But what makes the Australians’ behaviour in Cape Town different from other instances, I believe, is the premeditated nature of the crime.”

The former England skipper said Smith must be held to account for his role in the scandal.“He finds himself in charge of a very good cricket team but a team that are not especially popular, even back home in Australia,” he wrote.“It’s not necessarily the captain’s job is to be popular, but it is his job to ensure his side are playing within the spirit of the game.”