Darren Lehmann ‘set to resign’ as Steve Smith faces up to a one-year ban for Australia’s ball-tampering scandal

Smith has already been banned from this Friday’s fourth Test against South Africa, but Australia could head into the match without their captain and coach as a full investigation begins

Darren Lehmann is set to step down as Australian cricket coach following the ball-tampering scandal that also looks likely to claim the captaincy of Steve Smith and vice-captaincy of David Warner, with the head of Cricket Australia arriving in South Africa cricket to begin an investigation.

The cricket world was rocked on Saturday when 25-year-old batsman Cameron Bancroft was caught trying to change the state of the ball on day three of the third Test against South Africa after he rubbed a piece of yellow sticky tape with dirt stuck to it on the rough side of the ball in order to try and produce reverse swing.

After replays of it was shown on the big screen at Newlands, Bancroft reacted by putting the tape down the front of his trousers, before confessing in a press conference later that day to deliberately ball-tampering and “panicking” once he realised he had been caught.

But the crisis deepened in the same press conference when captain Smith admitted that the decision to cheat had been premeditated by the “leadership group” of the team, and a furious backlash now looks set to claim the jobs of both head coach Lehmann and players Smith and Warner, who are facing lengthy bans from Cricket Australia.

According to The Telegraph, Lehmann will resign from his role before the fourth Test against South Africa begins on Friday, one year ahead of his planned departure after the 2019 Ashes series. During last Saturday’s press conference, Smith said that Lehmann and the rest of the coaching staff were unaware of the ball-tampering plan, but former Australia captain Michael Clarke believes that Lehmann’s future is damned either way.

“If that’s the case, then the Australian head coach hasn’t got control of this Australian team,” Clarke said on Australia’s Nine Network. “And if he does know about it, then he’s as accountable as anybody else.”

Lehmann has not spoken publically on the furore since it unfolded, although Cricket Australia are expected to make an announcement from South Africa on Tuesday. The team have announced that batsman Matt Renshaw has been called up to the squad to replace Smith, who has been handed a one-Test ban from the International Cricket Council along with a 100 per cent match fee fine from the third Test.


 Bancroft used sticky tape with dirt on it to roughen one side of the ball 
 (SuperSport)

However, Cricket Australia are expected to take much stronger action, with the 28-year-old facing a suspension of up to a year.

Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland is due to arrive in Johannesburg on Tuesday to meet with their head of integrity, Iain Roy, to discuss the incident and the subsequent investigation. The scandal has drawn heavy criticism from back home in Australia, with prime minster Malcolm Turnbull labelling it “a disgrace” on the country.

“This cheating is ... it is a disgrace. We all know that, it is a terrible disgrace,” Turnbull said.

“They [Cricket Australia] now have to make sure that this great, national game, this great international game that is synonymous with fair play, is once again a game that is played by champions, that everybody can look up to.

“Cricket Australia is dealing with it, they have to investigate it and they have to act, continue to act decisively and emphatically.

“We want to get to the point where we can all say once again, not rhetorically but heartfelt and with sincerity, that cricket is a fair game, cricket is a game that is synonymous with a fair go and fair play, that is what has to happen.”


 Smith looks set to be stripped of the Australia captaincy 
 (Getty)

Former Australian cricket Trevor Chappell, who was involved in Australia’s previous biggest controversy in the sport 37 years ago, believes that the decision to cheat – and subsequently getting caught – could now haunt Smith, Warner and Bancroft for the rest of their lives.

Chappell infamously bowled underarm in the final over against New Zealand in the third one-day final of the 1981 World Series Cup, preventing their opponents from scoring the six runs that they needed to win the match, having been told to do so by his captain and brother Greg. Speaking about the after-effects of that decision, Chappell believes it cost him his marriage and took a mental toll on him that he has struggled to cope with, and he feels that those involved in the current ordeal could now face something similar.

“They’ll have to live with what they’ve done forever,” said Chappell. “Whether it haunts them for the rest of their lives is down to them but I haven’t been able to shake off what happened to me in 37 years.

“What I did has lived with me ever since and it will be the same for Smith and Bancroft.

“They will struggle for the rest of their lives and be known as the ones who brought Australian cricket into disrepute.”