Ten Sports broadcast Vernon Philander ball tampering footage despite CSA's reluctance

Vernon Philander

Despite efforts from Cricket South Africa (CSA) and their team management to try and convince the broadcasters not to air the television footage that caught pacer Vernon Philander tampering the ball on day 3 of the Test match against Sri Lanka at Galle, it was relayed by Ten Sports on the final day upon home side’s insistence, ESPNcricinfo reports.

Philander was fined 75% of his match fee for the offence. As per reports from the broadcasters, "CSA big-wigs made it clear they would not be happy if we showed the incident."

When asked about the incident, Sri Lanka’s captain Angelo Mathews said: "It's unfortunate when someone tampers with the ball. If they tamper with the ball, they get the better of it. I think the umpires need to make sure it doesn't happen again. It's not within the laws. You can't tamper with the ball. It's the umpires' decision and they need to make sure it doesn't happen again."

The third umpire and the on-field umpires were made aware of the issue, which took place during the second session, only after the end of day’s play. However, match referee Jeff Crowe was informed of the misconduct by Tea and had access to the visuals. Not to be forgotten, South Africa used the same ball and took 5 more wickets in the third session to wrap up the home team’s first innings.

What is also noteworthy is the fact Ten Sports did not hesitate to show Faf du Plessis rubbing the ball too close to his trouser zip during the series against Pakistan last year. The ball was changed with third umpire’s intervention, and South Africa were penalised with five additional runs to Pakistan. The batsman was fined 50% of his match fee after he pleaded guilty.

"They (CSA) told us they would take away our rights and threatened to deny us player interviews in the future," a source said when asked about why the channel refrained itself from relaying the Philander issue.

Dale Steyn, when asked about his teammate’s act, said: "I don't really think about that. I think tomorrow morning in the papers it will say that we won this game regardless, so I don't know what to say about that."

Despite the visitors’ conveying their fears that showing the footage will "create a negative image" on the team, Ten Sports, after much consideration, decided not to entertain the request. It is also learnt that a Sri Lankan cricket official had requested the coverage team for the scene to be shown to the audience around the world; it was aired on day 5 when the 69th over was being bowled.