Aug 12, 2020 -- 6:26PM, Try My Best wrote:
Michael Atherton, England, 1994The “dirt in the pocket" incident happened when the England captain took dirt off the pitch, put it in his pocket and was caught on camera using it on the ball.Atherton was not fined or reprimanded by the ICC match referee Peter Burge, but the England Cricket Board took the sterner step of imposing a fine on Atherton.It was one of the darker episodes in his career. But Atherton, working this month as an analyst during England’s two-test tour to New Zealand, has sympathized with the current Australia captain, describing calls for Smith to be banned for life as “ridiculous."Chris Pringle, New Zealand, 1990The gentle medium pacer got away without any punishment despite admitting to ball tampering not long after making his test debut against Pakistan at Karachi.Television technology was nowhere near as high-tech as it is now, when every action of a player on the field can be closely monitored. And the on-field umpires were the sole adjudicators of test matches before the International Cricket Council started appointing match referees.He took a career-best 11 wickets for 152 runs in the third test at Faisalabad’ on a batting friendly wicket, later revealing he’d used a bottle top to scratch the ball. He said he’d tampered with the ball because he believed Pakistani bowlers were also doing it. The late Martin Crowe acknowledged later that while he’d been ready to accept that Pakistan was a better team, “we were not going to accept what they were doing with the ball."Stuart Broad, England, 2010The England fast bowler faced accusations of ball tampering when he appeared to step on the ball with the spikes of his boot during a test match against South Africa at Cape Town. Broad stopped a rolling ball with his foot before he stood on it. He argued that he was a bit lazy because of the extreme heat and denied tampering with the ball.No formal charges were laid despite complaints from the South Africans. Former England captain Nasser Hussain said that he had no doubt the fast bowler was wrong and “if a player from another country did the same, we’d have said they were cheating."Just a few examples of what the pomms have done in the past regarding ball tampering. Don't throw stones Whispering and know your cricket history.
However much we want our team to be blame free, I think it's fairly obvious this has been widespread. It's just the clever (or perhaps it's the lucky ones), who have never been caught.