Smith rejects ball-tampering suggestions

Australian captain Steve Smith has shot down
suggestions of ball-tampering after video of him using saliva from the corner
of his mouth during Sunday’s one-day loss to England raised eyebrows. 

Smith laughed off the reaction, after watching a replay of
the video, saying it was his standard technique for helping shine the white
ball with no assistance from any foreign substance. 

“It was all spit. People said something about lip balm.
If you look at my lips they are pretty dry. I certainly didn’t have any of that
on,” he told reporters on Sunday. 

“It is just the way I get the spit into the side of my
mouth and get some spit onto the ball. There was nothing in it.” 

England last month blasted ball-tampering allegations
against them as a “beat-up” after footage of England bowler James
Anderson working the ball with his thumbnail drew suspicions during their Ashes
test match in Melbourne. 

England coach Trevor Bayliss slammed the accusations after
former Australian Test players Shane Warne and Michael Slater suggested it was
not allowed. 

“It’s a beat-up. As soon as I saw the headlines I raced
into the umpires and that was their words: ‘Nothing to worry about, it was a
beat-up, absolutely fine’,” Bayliss said at the time. 

England sealed the five-match ODI series in Sydney Sunday
when a stunning century from Jos Buttler helped the visitors to a unbeatable
3-0 lead – a remarkable turnaround after Australia had trounced them 4-0 in the
Ashes Tests.

Source: AFP