Sydney: Former Australia captain Allan Border on Wednesday backed under-fire coach Darren Lehmann saying he is one of the “good guys” in the country’s cricketing culture.
“If (the) integrity officer has been thorough and interviewed people and he’s satisfied that Darren Lehmann didn’t know specifically what was going on at the time, I’m very relaxed,” Border told Fox Sports.
“That’s a good news item, isn’t it, not the other way.
“We’re talking about one of the good guys in Australian cricket,” he continued. “He’s done a fantastic job with that team and if he wasn’t aware of what was going on, there’s no problem at all.”
Lehmann has been found not guilty of knowing plans made on the third day of the Cape Town Test to generate reverse swing by tampering with the ball.
An investigation led by Cricket Australia’s head of integrity, Iain Roy, stated it.
Border, however, did not find support for his statement from former Australia captain Michael Clarke who is of the opinion that the “full story” was yet to come out and until then Australian cricket is in deep trouble.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan and talismanic batsman Kevin Pietersen were also not convinced by the CA investigation that cleared Lehmann of wrongdoing.
During the incident at Newlands last Saturday, Lehmann was seen with his walkie-talkie seemingly speaking to 12th man Peter Handscomb.
This took place soon after footage emerged of Bancroft using yellow sticky tape to scuff up the rough side of the ball.
Handscomb then went on to the field to have a chat with Bancroft, who later shoved the tape down his trousers.
Vaughan says he is “pretty sure” Australia were tampering with the ball during the recent Ashes series against England as cricket chiefs held crisis talks over the cheating scandal engulfing the sport.
Smith said it was the first time it had happened under his captaincy but Vaughan, who led England to Ashes glory in 2005, believes it has been going on for “quite a while”.
“I can’t believe that this hasn’t happened before,” Vaughan told the BBC. “I look at the amount of tape some of the fielders have worn, particularly during the Ashes series, mid-on, mid-off. (You) don’t have to name names but they know who they are.
“I’m pretty sure that it was going on during the Ashes series. But it wasn’t the reason why England lost 4-0. They still would have lost that series.”
Joe Root, who captained in Australia, has said he saw no reason to suspect Australia of ball-tampering during the series.
