CAPE TOWN: In January 2004, Clive Lloyd, the International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee, fined Rahul Dravid 50 percent of his match fee for using a cough lozenge to alter the condition of the ball 鈥� inadvertently, said the Indian legend 鈥� during a one-day match against Zimbabwe in Brisbane. In the aftermath of that incident, Ricky Ponting, Australia鈥檚 captain, said: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what (applying a lozenge to a ball) does . . . they might not have known what it does either, they might have been just trying that.
鈥淚t鈥檚 certainly something we鈥檙e very aware of. There have been a lot of these issues come up over the last couple of years. Different players from different countries have been suspended and fined and things . . . I don鈥檛 think you鈥檒l see us doing anything like that.鈥�
Four years later, in Sydney, after several dubious umpiring decisions had contributed to an Australian victory in the Test subsequently remembered for the Monkeygate racism scandal, an Indian journalist asked Ponting about a low catch he had claimed, which had not been given. 鈥淚f you are questioning my integrity, then probably you shouldn鈥檛 be sitting here,鈥� said an incensed Ponting.

A similar holier-than-thou attitude was in full view on Saturday when Australia coach Darren Lehmann spoke of the abuse his players had copped from the Newlands crowd. 鈥淭here have been various incidents throughout the Test series but this one has taken the cake,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 been disgraceful. You鈥檙e talking about abuse of various players and their families and personal abuse. It鈥檚 not on at a cricket ground anywhere around the world, not just here, it shouldn鈥檛 happen.鈥�
During his playing days, Lehmann used highly offensive, racist words about his Sri Lankan opponents. As coach during the 2013 Ashes, and talking about Stuart Broad, he exhorted Australian crowds to 鈥済ive it to him right from the word go for the whole summer and I hope he cries and he goes home.鈥� Broad鈥檚 crime? Not walking after nicking a ball. Lehmann鈥檚 captain at the time, Michael Clarke, had done exactly the same during the controversial 2008 Sydney Test, though the umpires did send him on his way.
It is understandable, then, that every Australian remark about 鈥減laying hard, but fair鈥� or 鈥渘ot crossing the line鈥� has been greeted with sniggers and derision by their opponents and fans alike. This is a team that has made a beeline for the moral high ground while systematically stretching the limits of the laws.
But blatant cheating has never been the Australian way. They were at the forefront of pushing 鈥渃huckers鈥� out of the game in the 1960s, and no Australian had ever been cited for ball-tampering before. In the 1990s, as the rest of the world rushed to emulate the reverse-swing exploits of Pakistan鈥檚 Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, Australia relied primarily on quality new-ball bowling and leg-spin to see off every opponent.
In fact, a quick glance at the statistics from the past two years illustrates just how much Australia have struggled to get the old ball to deviate through the air. That might have triggered the utterly bone-headed plan that Steve Smith and his leadership group went ahead with in Cape Town on Sunday.
In the past, players have used everything 鈥� from strips of Vaseline and bottle tops, to Murray Mints and trouser zippers 鈥� to rough up one side of the ball. Few, though, did it as blatantly, and in full view of dozens of high-definition cameras.
Smith鈥檚 鈥渨e鈥檝e not done it before, won鈥檛 do it again鈥� defense was straight from the toddler-cookie-jar school, and it is no surprise that the ICC have handed down the strictest punishment possible according to the laws. 鈥淭he game needs to have a hard look at itself,鈥� said Dave Richardson, the ICC鈥檚 chief executive. 鈥淚n recent weeks, we have seen incidents of ugly sledging, send-offs, dissent against umpires鈥� decisions, a walk-off, ball tampering and some ordinary off-field behavior.鈥�
Cricket Australia, under pressure from the prime minister and disgusted fans, has to do more. Last year鈥檚 antics in Bangalore 鈥� Smith looking to the dressing room for review advice after being dismissed 鈥� was characterised as a 鈥渂rain fade鈥� and brushed under the carpet. This was an audition for a 鈥淒umb and Dumber鈥� sequel, and it has dragged the hallowed baggy-green cap through the gutter. Unless steps are taken against every one of the so-called leaders, the muck will stick.