Look, I’ll try and make this the last story I write about the ball-tampering scandal (for today, at least), but it’s tough not to get a little caught up.

Sometimes you have to write about things that make you passionate, and at the moment that involves watching this Ozzie team and their toxic team culture crash and burn.

Teammates turning on David Warner and Steve Smith, year-long bans and a coach about to call it quits – you can find those details here.

Of course all of this wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the eagle-eyed men and women that make up SuperSport’s broadcasting team, so a serious doff of the cap to all those whose meticulous work behind the scenes led us to this point.

SA cricket fans often see cameraman ‘Oscar’ suited up on day one of a test match – well played, sir.

His full name is Zotani Oscar, and he is both a dapper dresser and a skilled operator:

Superb stuff – maybe we can get Cape Town’s most-skilled tailor to sort him out next time he’s in town.

Head of production at SuperSport, Alvin Naicker, spoke to the Mail & Guardian, and says the entire broadcast team deserves credit.

He outlined how they had been keeping an eye on the Ozzies for a while:

“From Durban we were keeping a close eye on the ball in terms of what happens in between deliveries, who it goes to and what they do,” he told the Mail & Guardian. “We always have cameras tracking the ball and seeing what’s going on. In Durban we noticed that the reversing of the ball was quite different than in a lot of games after 25 overs.

“So in this game we decided that the cameraman should stay with the ball. With Bancroft, the camera zoomed in and we noticed he had something in his hand. So we stayed with the player rather than track the ball. When we played the footage on the big screen he removed it from his pocket and put it down his pants. That’s how he got caught out.”

Once they had Bancroft sticking his hands down his pants, the broadcasting team sniffed blood. That’s when coach Lehmann was pinged:

Naicker, acting as TV director on the day, said of the roughly 30 cameras around the pitch, eight were dedicated to the brewing incident.

“It wasn’t just Bancroft, we had to keep an eye on the coach because he saw it on the monitor and straight away he got on the two-way radio,” he revealed.

“It wasn’t an intention to nail him, we just wanted to show what was going on.”

Dunno if I’m buying that, but we will call it a happy coincidence.

Afrikaans commentator and mid-90s quick Fanie de Villiers is also taking some credit for catching those hands in the cookie jar.

He spoke to Ozzie radio station RSN:

“We said to our cameraman go out and have a look if they are using something. It’s impossible for the ball to get altered like that.”

Fanie de Villiers on the ball tampering #RSNBreakfastClub pic.twitter.com/c9scXfKBjq

— RSN Breakfast Club (@RSNBreakfast) March 25, 2018

And you thought that his Sydney heroics back in 1995 would be the last sting in his tail.

Allow me to explore one more angle on just how horrid this mess is for Cricket Australia, and I’m talking about the damage it will do to their bank balance.

Australia’s major cricket sponsors have lashed out at the team, and it looks like a few might be pulling their financial backing.

These details from Business Live:

…Qantas Airways, breakfast cereal maker Sanitarium and brewer Lion, said on Monday they were assessing their relationship with the country’s favourite pastime…

Weetbix-maker Sanitarium, which counts Smith as a brand ambassador, said it was reviewing its sponsorship pending the outcome of an investigation by governing body Cricket Australia…

The sentiment was mirrored by almost all of the sport’s commercial partners in Australia, including Qantas, apparel sponsor Asics, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, insurer Bupa, Specsavers, Toyota, and brewer Lion, which owns beer sponsor XXXX…

“This is deeply disappointing and certainly not what anyone expects from our national cricket team,” Qantas said in a statement. “We are in discussions with Cricket Australia as this issue unfolds.”

Cricket Australia earned A$338.4m ($261m) in media, sponsorship and spectator fees in the financial year ended June 30, 2017, according to its most recent annual report. The value of its individual sponsorships are not disclosed.

Just try and wipe this smug grin off my face.

Maybe they should look at reclaiming some of that lost revenue from the likes of Smith, Warner, Lehmann and Bancroft.

For what it’s worth, the Ozzie skipper is the highest earning player on Australia’s central contract list, on a base salary of AU $2 million (R18 million). David Warner collects about $1,4m (R12,5 million) before match payments, win bonuses and marketing fees.

That’s outside of their IPL contracts, each boasting a R18 million contract for this year’s events, and their own personal sponsorship deal.

Hit them where it hurts, folks.

[sources:mg&buslive]