Cricket South Africa responds to ball-tampering allegations from former Australian captain Tim Paine

Johannesburg, October 26: Cricket South Africa (CSA) has responded to allegations of ball-tampering made by former Australian Test captain Tim Paine in his new autobiography, saying it "could have been useful had it come out at the time".

Paine assumed the role of Test captain after the 2018 ball-tampering scandal during Australia's tour of South Africa, where then-captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and young batsman Cameron Bancroft were all handed significant bans for their role in using sandpaper to roughen one side of the ball.

However, in his new autobiography, he claims that in the very next Test match of that same series, it was the South Africans who were shown on the big screen appearing to intentionally scuff the ball in an illegal fashion.

"I was standing at the bowlers' end in the next Test when a shot came up on the screen of a South African player at mid-off having a huge crack at the ball," he claims.

"We went to the umpires about it, which might seem a bit poor, but we'd been slaughtered and were convinced they'd been up to it since the first Test. But the footage got lost. As it would."

In response, CSA said Paine's allegation "could have been useful had it come out at the time, when the rot in the game was being rooted out".

It added: "CSA and Cricket Australia (CA) have engaged on this matter and the necessary sanctions levied at the time. Both bodies have reiterated their commitment to a clean game, pampered with excellence, grit and above reproach.

"While CSA respects the rights of individuals to air their opinions, it also calls upon all those who love the game to come forward with any information of misconduct on the field at the appropriate time and not wait for time to elapse.

"This will assist the relevant authorities within the system to investigate and appropriate relevant sanctions should they be required."