Steve Smith says he will not be "stepping down" as Australian captain after he and his leadership group instructed Cameron Bancroft to tamper with the ball during the third Test against South Africa.
Key points:
- Australian cricket team admits to ball tampering to get an advantage in third Test
-Captain Steve Smith says team is "deeply regrettable"
-Batsman Cameron Bancroft has admitted his guilt and been charged by match officials
-Smith has confessed he helped authorise the illegal practice of ball tampering on day three in Cape Town, while Bancroft admitted to the offence and was charged by match officials.
Players hatched the idea of cheating with yellow sticky tape, which they hoped would capture debris from the pitch and scuff one side of the ball in an attempt to get it to reverse swing, at lunch on Saturday (local time).
But Bancroft was caught doing it on the field by television cameras, and then attempted to hide the evidence by shoving the tape down his pants before he was questioned by umpires.
Smith admitted "the leadership group knew about it" but he would not name the other players involved in hatching the plan.
He said he had no intention to resign as Australian skipper.
"I won't be considering stepping down. I still think I'm the right person for the job," Smith told a media conference.
Former Australian cricketers including Shane Warne and Michael Clarke slammed captain Steve Smith and senior players for hatching the plan to tamper with the ball during the third Test against South Africa.
There was no doubt about what had happened, and the only shred of credit these players can take is that they fronted up to tell the story rather than having Bancroft punished and refusing to comment.
The most junior player in the team came along with his captain to admit that he had taken a piece of adhesive tape from the team kit, stuck some grit to it from the edge of the pitch where he had fielded at short leg, and used the abrasive substance to try to scratch the ball.
"I want to be here because I'm accountable for my actions as well," he told the media conference.
"I'm not proud of what's happened and I have to live with the consequences and the damage to my own reputation that comes with that."
To centre the blame on him, though, would be unfair.
"The leadership group knew about it, we spoke about it at lunch," Smith said.
The risk of doing the dirty work was delegated by the team's most senior players to their young colleague.
