Sydney, March 28: Former Australia captain Allan Border on Wednesday backed under-fire coach Darren Lehmann saying he is one of the “good guys” in the country’s cricketing culture.
“If (the) integrity officer has been thorough and interviewed people and he’s satisfied that Darren Lehmann didn’t know specifically what was going on at the time, I’m very relaxed,” Border told Fox Sports.
“That’s a good news item, isn’t it, not the other way.
“We’re talking about one of the good guys in Australian cricket,” he continued. “He’s done a fantastic job with that team and if he wasn’t aware of what was going on, there’s no problem at all.”
Lehmann has been found not guilty of knowing plans made on the third day of the Cape Town Test to generate reverse swing by tampering with the ball.
An investigation led by Cricket Australia’s head of integrity, Iain Roy, stated so as reported by ESPNCricinfo.
Captain Steven Smith, vice-captain David Warner and opener Cameron Bancroft who was eventually caught on camera roughing up the ball with a foreign object, had been involved in the plan and all of them have been ordered to leave South Africa.
Border, however, did not find support for his statement from former Australia captain Michael Clarke who is of the opinion that the “full story” was yet to come out and until then Australian cricket is in deep trouble.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan and talismanic batsman Kevin Pietersen were also not convinced by the CA investigation that cleared Lehmann of wrongdoing.
During the incident at Newlands last Saturday,
Lehmann was seen with his walkie-talkie seemingly speaking to 12th man Peter Handscomb.
This took place soon after footage emerged of Bancroft using yellow sticky tape to scuff up the rough side of the ball.
Handscomb then went on to the field to have a chat with Bancroft, who later shoved the tape down his trousers.
Smith and Warner were suspended by Cricket Australia (CA) on Wednesday for 12 months each and Cameron Bancroft for nine months, the Australian media reported.
CA Chief Executive James Sutherland met the players at their hotel in Johannesburg’s Sandton district to tell them their fate before they flew back to Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Smith broke the news to his teammates soon after he was handed his penalty. He has been stripped of the Australian captaincy, which is being taken over by Tim Paine on a full-time basis.
The pair will also not feature in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) starting April 7.