'What have I just woken up to?': Cricket world slams Aussies over ball tampering

The cricket community has reacted with shock and outrage to revelations of Australia's premeditated attempt to cheat in the third Test against South Africa.

Steve Smith, who has made it clear he doesn't intend to stand down as skipper over the ball-tampering furore, and his leadership group discussed the merits of using sticky tape to illegally alter the ball at lunch on day three of the contest in Cape Town.

The vision of him shoving that piece of tape down his pants went worldwide instantly.

The footage was damning and they were immediately called out for it by players past and present, pundits and punters alike.

Can we talk about this? pic.twitter.com/cmpRrOArgD

— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) March 24, 2018

The opener, who attempted to hide the tape from umpires, has been charged by the match referee.

Michael Clarke was among the millions of Australians waking up on Sunday to headlines and news bulletins they could scarcely believable. "WHAT THE ........ HAVE I JUST WOKEN UP TO. Please tell me this is a bad dream," Clarke posted on Twitter.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan declared the stain and stigma of this sorry affair would stick to Australian captain Steve Smith, his players and the entire touring party for their entire careers.

"Steve Smith,his Team & ALL the management will have to accept that whatever happens in their careers they will all be known for trying to CHEAT the game," Vaughan wrote.

"All the leadership group are involved in this.

"They still cheated and should have very serious consequences."

Vaughan then posted a poll asking whether Smith should be removed as captain of the Australian team — with 90 per cent calling for him to be axed.

WHAT THE ........ HAVE I JUST WOKEN UP TO. Please tell me this is a bad dream.

— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) March 24, 2018

Steve Smith,his Team & ALL the management will have to accept that whatever happens in their careers they will all be known for trying to CHEAT the game ... #SAvAUS

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 24, 2018

"It won't happen again." No it won't, because we'll hopefully have a new captain. This goes against the grain, against everything Australian sporting culture stands for. It also paints a terrible picture of the culture within the team

— Tom Browne (@TomBrowne7) March 24, 2018

This is a terrible day for Australian cricket.

This stain will take a lot of removing.

— Peter Lalor (@plalor) March 24, 2018

My 2cents worth - This will be Darren Lehmann’s greatest test as a coach, cos I will struggle to believe that this was all Bancroft’s idea. #SandpaperGate.

— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) March 24, 2018

Surely, ICC will react under the laws of the game. But the World will be eagerly waiting for Cricket Australia to react appropriately...under the ethics of the game.

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) March 24, 2018

But Smith has refused to step down as captain over the incident.

"I won't be considering stepping down. I still think I'm the right person for the job," Smith told reporters.

"Today was a big mistake on my behalf and on the leadership group's behalf as well.

"I take responsibility as the captain. I need to take control of the ship. "This is certainly something I'm not proud of and something that I can hope to learn from and come back strong from."

Smith is yet to speak with Cricket Australia chairman David Peever and/or chief executive James Sutherland about the saga.

"I am embarrassed to be sitting here," Smith said "I'm incredibly sorry for trying to bring the game into disrepute the way we did today.

"It's a big error in judgment but we'll learn from it and move past it."

Smith insisted that coaching staff, including Darren Lehmann, were not aware of the illegal tactic and that his side have never tried using tape to scuff the ball before.

"Obviously it didn't work. The umpires didn't see it change the way the ball was behaving or how it looked or anything like that, so it was a poor choice and deeply regrettable," Smith said.

Smith wouldn't divulge the other teammates involved in the discussion. The leadership group has featured David Warner, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in the past.