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, saying it was his standard technique for helping
shine 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 on," he told reporters yesterday.
"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 their Ashes test match in Melbourne.
England coach Trevor Bayliss slammed the accusations
after former Australian test players Shane Warne and Michael
Slater suggested it was not allowed.
"It's a beat-up. As soon as I saw the headlines I raced
into the umpires and that was their words: 'Nothing to worry
about, it was a beat-up, absolutely fine'," Bayliss said at
the time.
England sealed the five-match ODI series in Sydney Sunday
when a stunning century from Jos Buttler helped the visitors
to a unbeatable 3-0 lead -- a remarkable turnaround after
Australia had trounced them 4-0 in the Ashes Tests.
