With the buzz around the ball-tampering incident that engulfed Australia beginning to fade, Ricky Ponting, their former captain, defended the culture of the side, and said the issue had been blown out of proportion.
Australia lost the four-Test series in South Africa 3-1, their campaign side-tracked by events in the third game in Cape Town when Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera attempting to alter the condition of the ball with what was later confirmed to be sandpaper.
The fallout resulted in Steve Smith and David Warner, the captain and vice-captain, being banned by Cricket Australia (CA) for 12 months, while Bancroft was handed a nine-month ban. Furthermore, Darren Lehmann stepped down as head coach.
CA also initiated an independent review into the culture of the side, but Ponting argued: “The cultural issue for me is really an interesting thing. Because if we wind the clock back just a couple of months, when Australia won the Ashes like they did, there was no talk about cultural problems or issues whatsoever.
“I honestly feel on this occasion the cultural stuff that's been spoken about has probably been blown out of proportion to a certain degree. As Australians, we like to play the game hard, we like to play the game fair. Fans expect the Australian players to play that way.”
Ponting, however, admitted he was "quite shocked" with the incident as such, and could understand the severe backlash the players faced. “As a past player and past captain, I was quite shocked to see what actually took place out on the field,” he said. “The reaction back in Australia was as big as it was because the Australian public felt the Australian players had not played the game in a fair way.
“There's a very big picture there for the world game's sake, and Cricket Australia, I think, have reacted to what the world game pretty much demanded.”
With all of Warner, Smith and Bancroft accepting their sanctions and opting not to appeal the bans, Ponting was glad things could now move forward. “The pleasing thing for me is that now it seems the issue is starting to come to an end," he said. “It's a good thing for cricket in Australia. Now that the Test series is over, the guys have got a few weeks to get away from it all and then start rebuilding what has sort of collapsed for them over the last couple of weeks.”
