Sandpaper gate | Australian Sports Commission calls for Steve Smith’s resignation after organised “cheating”

Australian Cricket has always managed to stay in the limelight for many reasons. While their cricket in this series has been competitive, the fresh crisis has enough potential to derail their standard to a level unimaginable. In the wake of the ball-tampering incident, in which Smith admitted that it was a plan to "alter the condition of the ball", the ASC came forward and asked for the skipper’s head for his involvement in such a shameful act. 

In a statement on Sunday (March 25), Australian Sports Commission Chair John Wylie, the ASC board and the CEO Kate Palmer said, "The ASC condemns cheating of any form in sport. The ASC expects and requires that Australian teams and athletes demonstrate unimpeachable integrity in representing our country.

"The Australian cricket team are iconic representatives of our country. The example they set matters a great deal to Australia and to the thousands of young Australians playing or enjoying the sport of cricket and who look up to the national team as role models.

"Given the admission by Australian captain  Steve Smith, the ASC calls for him to be stood down immediately by Cricket Australia, along with any other members of the team leadership group or coaching staff who had prior awareness of, or involvement in, the plan to tamper with the ball. This can occur while Cricket Australia completes a full investigation."

However, CA’s chief executive James Sutherland confirmed that Smith would remain captain for now. However, the CA decided to send their Head of Integrity Iain Roy, and Head of Team Performance Pat Howard to South Africa to investigate the matter.

"Steve Smith's currently the captain of the Australian team," he said in Melbourne on Sunday (March 25). "We're working through a process and once we have a clearer picture of the facts and understand things ... we'll be able to make further comment.

"In the course of the next couple of days we will get to the bottom of this and we will take appropriate action," he added. "I've asked Iain Roy and Pat Howard to travel to South Africa today and they'll be on the ground. Iain's brief will be to gather all the information we need to understand this matter better."