Australia have never played fair claims Windies legend Holding

West Indies legend Michael Holding has rubbished any suggestions Australia was ever a team that played a ‘hard and fair’ cricket as the backlash from the recent ball-tampering saga continues to play out.

In wake of the controversy, Australian captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were banned from international and domestic cricket by Cricket Australia (CA) for a year, with opening batsman Cameron Bancroft exiled for nine months in light of the incident which took place during the third Test in South Africa.

Despite the global outrage and vociferous assertions that the players were among other things, degrading the integrity of the team and the sport, Holding has insisted the phenomena is by no means a recent one.

“That (hard and fair cricket) has been truly busted in the public eye, but I knew long time ago it was rubbish. I’ve played for many years and commentated on many of their games,” Holding told the Mumbai Mirror.

“I have seen a former captain pick the ball from the ground and appeal, pretending he didn’t know the ball bounced. All this ‘hard and fair’ thing is absolutely rubbish. Not all of them behave that way but some go beyond pushing the envelope. They can tell other people (about their fair play) but don’t come to me with that,” he added.