Former Australian Test skipper Tim Paine has accused South Africa of ball-tampering in his autobiography while accusing Cricket Australia of coercing his resignation from the leadership role.
In a sensational excerpt from his book, The Paid Price, Paine claimed that the hosts South Africa tempered with the ball in the match following the “Sandpapergate” but the incident was covered up by the broadcasters.
“I was standing at the bowlers’ end in the next Test when a shot came up on the screen of a South African player at mid-off having a huge crack at the ball.
“The television director, who had played an active role in catching out Cam, immediately pulled the shot off the screen. We went to the umpires about it, which might seem a bit poor, but we’d been slaughtered and were convinced they’d been up to it since the first Test. But the footage got lost. As it would.”
He also went into detail explaining that ball-tempering is a common practice in the international game and an open secret for every team.
Paine, however, denied that a team meeting decided on the use of sandpaper calling it “next level” and “shameful”, as opposed to the traditional means such as throwing the ball into the ground.
Tim Paine was the beneficiary of the Newlands ball-tampering scandal, replacing Steve Smith as Test captain following his sacking, with David Warner and Cameron Bancroft also punished for their roles.
However, his tenure came to a less-than-stellar end when he was found guilty of sending lewd messages to a Tasmania cricket employee. Paine is now claiming that he was cleared of the misconduct in 2017 but was made a scapegoat after the story became public and the cricketing board walked back on their word.
The 37-year-old recently made his return to domestic cricket for Tasmania signalling a new lease on life.
