Australia's cricket team reputation is in tatters after skipper Steve Smith confessed to coming up with a plan with senior players to cheat South Africa by tampering with the ball in the third Test. Aussies skipper Smith and Cameron Bancroft, the fielder chosen to carry out the tampering, admitted to cheating after Bancroft was caught on television using a piece of yellow sticky tape to rub dirt into the ball, then trying to hide the tape down his trousers when umpires suspected something was up.

At the lunch break on the third day of the third Test in Cape Town, Australia are in trouble. South Africa lead by over 100 runs with just one wicket down, look set to re-create further ahead, and the ball isn't doing much to help Australia. With the series 1-1 with one more Test to play after Cape Town, it's a crucial moment in a battle between the arch rivals.

The Australians get some yellow sticky tape from a team kit bag, see if they can get some loose dirt from the pitch stuck to it when they're back out on the field, and then use it to rough up the ball. Bancroft, an opening batsman in his eighth Test, is chosen as the player to do the tampering because he is in the vicinity of the discussion between the senior players in the dressing room, according to Smith.

Bancroft hides the sticky tape in the pocket of his trousers. When he gets the chance, he collects some “granules'' beside the pitch, sticks them to the tape, and uses it on the ball. The problem is he's caught red-handed by television cameras, and it's replayed over and over on the big screen, in close up and slow-motion. The embarrassing images are also replayed on TVs all around the world.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday in South Africa @cbancroft4 pic.twitter.com/CTVBxB3ajF

— Simon Harmer (@SimonHarmerRSA) March 24, 2018