'Bancroft and Steve SmithSack the lot of them' Furious Australian cricke...

'Sack the lot of them' Furious Australian cricket fans demand Steve Smith gets fired



Australian cricket fans and former players are demanding captain Steve Smith gets sacked after he admitted his team cheated against South Africa by tampering with the ball.



Batsman Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera pulling sticky tape from his pocket and rubbing it on the ball to illegally gain an advantage on Saturday.



In press conference after play, Smith admitted that he and senior players planned the ball-tampering at lunch on day three of the test match in Cape Town but said he won't be stepping down as captain.



Millions of Australians woke up on Sunday to headlines they could scarcely believe as fans quickly bayed for blood, demanding 'sack the lot of them.'



Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland was on the verge of tears as he told reporters at a press conference on Sunday morning: 'This is a sad day for Australian Cricket.'



He has sent the head of integrity and head of team performance out to South Africa to investigate and said he will not decide on sacking any players until he has seen their report.



Former captain Allan Border was among scores of outraged cricket legends.



Discussing the possibility of Smith being sacked, he wrote in his Fox Sports Australia column: 'If the ICC and the Australian board decides that Steve Smith is free to play in the fourth Test, I would be comfortable with that.



'But equally, if he has to pay a penalty for his leadership in going down this path I'd be just as comfortable.'



He added: It's hard to explain your emotions when it comes to seeing the Australian team doing something like this - you just feel embarrassed and disappointed.'



Another former captain, Michael Clarke, posted on Twitter: 'WHAT THE ........ HAVE I JUST WOKEN UP TO. Please tell me this is a b*d dream.'



Clarke called the cheating 'blatant' and 'disrespectful' during an interview on Nine News on Sunday morning in which he also refused to rule out a return as team captain, saying: 'If I was asked by the right people, then I would think about my answer.'



He said: 'I am pretty emotional about it all, to be honest. It is going to be quite hard for me to talk about. I think I have no doubt in my mind Steve Smith will be sitting in his hotel room right now in tears.





I have no doubt in my mind that every past Australian cricketer will be absolutely shattered with what we found out this morning.'



He savaged Smith for apparently asking 25-year-old Bancroft to cheat, saying: 'This is his eighth test match. I can't believe if the leadership group has made a decision to do this, that they have gone and got the young kid who is playing his eighth test match to do that.



'As a leader, you can't ask somebody to do something you are not willing to do something you are not willing to do yourself.' 



Former England captain Michael Vaughan led chorus of condemnation and criticism from other ex-players.



'Steve Smith,his Team & ALL the management will have to accept that whatever happens in their careers they will all be known for trying to CHEAT the game,' Vaughan tweeted.



The four-Test series between Australia and South Africa has been marred by a handful of ugly controversies, starting with a staircase clash between David Warner and Quinton de Kock.





There isn't exactly a good time for such an incident to unfold but it could hardly have been timed more poorly for Smith's side and Cricket Australia.



CA has been trying to improve the image of its side while lodging an official complaint about the vile nature of abuse from South African spectators.



'The Australian camp has been lecturing people lately on how the game should be played and a line that shouldn't be crossed,' former England captain Nasser Hussain told Sky Sports.



'Some of the stuff that has come out of the Australian camp, especially, has been laughable.



'Well, it looks like they're on the wrong side of the line here. It does not look good for the image of the game.





'It looks terrible, a premeditated move to get reverse swing and a blatant attempt to ball tamper.'



Injured Proteas paceman Dale Steyn and recently-retired batsman Kevin Pietersen questioned whether coach Darren Lehmann was aware of Australia's plan, something Smith denied while speaking to reporters.



'This will be Darren Lehmann's greatest test as a coach, cos (sic) I will struggle to believe that this was all Bancroft's idea,' Pietersen posted on Twitter.



Steyn replied that 'nothing in professional sport is done without the consent of your captain and coach.





Bancroft was charged by the International Cricket Council with ball-tampering before he and Smith were forced to issue grovelling apologies while facing a hostile media immediately after the end of the day's play.