England have found themselves at the centre of a tampering row after former captain Bob Willis accused them of scratching the ball.
The alleged incident took place during England’s seven-wicket Champions Trophy defeat by Sri Lanka at The Oval on Thursday when Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar and his New Zealand on-field colleague Billy Bowden ordered one of the balls in use to be changed while the Lankans were batting. “Let’s not beat about the bush — Aleem Dar is on England’s case,” Willis told Saturday’s edition of the Sun tabloid.
“He knows that one individual is scratching the ball for England —who I am not going to name — and that’s why the ball was changed,” insisted Willis, one of England’s greatest fast bowlers. “Have you ever heard about the batting side or the umpire complaining about the shape of the ball?” added Willis, one of only four England bowlers to have taken 300 Test wickets.
England were unhappy when umpires changed the ball as their attack was starting to gain reverse swing, which was key to their opening victory over Australia and is aided by natural wear and tear of the ball, with captain Alastair Cook leading the protests.
However, the replacement ball moved little and Sangakkara went on to complete a superb unbeaten hundred to guide Sri Lanka to victory.
Giles denies claim
England limited overs coach Ashley Giles has denied his players tamper will the ball following Willis’ allegations
Speaking Saturday ahead of his side's key Champions Trophy match against New Zealand in Cardiff on Sunday, Giles said: “We don’t tamper with the ball. With the situation the other day, the ball was changed because it had gone out of shape. We asked the question, the captain (Alastair Cook) asked that question to the umpires which he has a right to.
Giles insisted England were achieving reverse-swing — which played an important part in their tournament-opening win over Australia.