India A were accused of ball tampering during their loss to Australia A in the first unofficial Test Mackay, with wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan warned by the umpire for showing dissent.
Day four of the first unofficial Test began in controversial manner as umpire Shawn Craig changed the ball India A were bowling with, saying that it had been tampered with. “When you scratch it, we change the ball. No more discussion, let’s play," he was heard saying on the stump mic as several Indian players surrounded him at the non-striker's end.
Following this, Kishan confirmed with the umpire if they had to play with the changed ball and made his displeasure clearly known. "So we're gonna play with this ball?" Kishan asked Craig, before saying, "that's a very stupid decision".
Craig immediately warned Kishan that he would be reported for dissent. "Excuse me, you will be on report for dissent, that is inappropriate behaviour," he told Kishan.
Cricket Australia issue clarification on ball change
Later, CA released a statement saying that the ball was changed "due to deterioration", and that no action would be taken against anyone. If the ball had indeed been changed due to tampering, as was initially the confusion, India A would have copped a five-run penalty under law 41.3.4.
What if India had actually tampered with the ball?
Article 2.15 of Cricket Australia's Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel deals with changing the condition of the ball. It states that "the Team Captain of the offending side may breach this Article 2.15 in the event that the Player or Player Support Personnel involved in the breach are not able to be identified, or where the breach was planned or systematic to the extent that the Team Captain either knew, or ought to have known, that the breach was occurring."
This means if the player who changed the condition of the ball could not be identified, India A's captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad would have been considered to have committed a Level 3 offence, which would have led to him receiving between four to 12 suspension points.
After the initial confusion with which play began on Day Four, the Australia A pair of Nathan McSweeney and Beau Webster made short work of the chase, cruising to a seven-wicket victory as the India A bowlers failed to make inroads, after having reduced them to 85-3 last evening.
