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Victoria were charged with ball tampering after umpires found suspicious marks on the ball during their eight wicket Sheffield Shield victory over South Australia.
The Victorians were penalised five runs and face a disciplinary hearing after being charged by umpires under Cricket Australia’s code of conduct.
Umpires laid the charge when finding “markings on the ball” after the final delivery at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, Cricket Australia said in a statement on Sunday.
Because a sole player could not be identified as the source of the alleged tampering, the entire Victorian team, including the 12th man, have been charged.
The Bushrangers were charged under rule 1.7 which regards “failure by a team to ensure that the condition of the ball is not changed”.
The Victorian players, who completed an outright victory over South Australia on Sunday, face losing 10 per cent of their match fee if found guilty.
Five runs were added to South Australia’s second innings total, a penalty imposed by umpires for the start of Sunday’s third day of play.
Victorian captain Cameron White said he was unaware of the specifics of the allegation.
“I can’t say a lot, obviously the umpires have made an allegation,” White said.
“We know that it’s a team thing and it’s a hearing so that is about all we know to be honest.
“We actually … don’t know what the allegation is at this stage, so when we find out, we’ll assess where it goes from there.”
South Australia captain Michael Klinger said he was also unaware of the detailed allegation.
“As far as I know, an indiscretion happened and there was a five run penalty,” Klinger said.
“I know there is some hearing later on.”
The Redbacks received an extra five runs in their second innings because of the ball tampering charge, their overnight total of 3-98 becoming 3-103 when Sunday’s play began.
The penalty runs mattered little in the context of the result: the South Australians were bowled out for 218, leaving the Bushrangers just 81 runs for victory – a target achieved in just 12 overs.
The five runs were added after the charge was laid by umpires Simon Fry, who is a member of world cricket’s international umpiring panel, and Bob Parry, who is also Cricket Victoria’s umpiring officer.
The entire Victorian team were charged under a clause which states the “presence or absence of involvement of each team member in changing the condition of the ball shall be irrelevant to a finding of guilt”.
A hearing time and convening of Cricket Australia’s Code of Behaviour Commissioner will be set early this week.
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