Ashes 2017: England assured by umpires that James Anderson has no case to answer over ball-tampering claims

England have been assured by the umpires for the fourth Ashes Test at Melbourne that they are not under suspicion of ball tampering, despite claims in the Australian media that James Anderson may have tried to scratch the ball. However, both teams have been warned about the grey-area practice of deliberately throwing the ball on the bounce to the wicket-keeper in the hope of scuffing it up.

Footage on Channel Nine showing Anderson running his thumb-nail along the quarter-seam of the ball during the Australian second innings drew stern comment from a number of Australian ex-players. But upon learning of the accusations, England coach Trevor Bayliss rushed into the umpires’ room, where S Ravi and Kumar Dharmasena told him that no wrongdoing was suspected.

“It’s a beat-up,” Bayliss said after the fourth day’s play, which ended with Australia 103-2, 61 runs behind England. “As soon as I saw the headlines on the Channel Nine news, I raced in to see the umpires – as quick as I can run, anyway – and they must have already seen it. They said straightaway, ‘don’t worry, absolutely nothing in it’. That was their words – ‘it’s a beat-up’. It’s absolutely fine, that’s as much as I know.”

Asked to explain Anderson’s actions, Bayliss replied: “You’re allowed to clean the ball. Kumar has said to our guys that you’ve got no problem cleaning the ball. He’d like them to do it in front of the umpires so they can see there’s nothing untoward going on.

“There is a bit of dirt and mud out there, and it does get in the ball and into some of the seams, and you are allowed to clean it off. If he [Anderson] was scratching it, he was scratching the wrong side for it to go reverse. The boys try to get one side rough and one side to stay smooth, and keep the ball dry.”

The tactic of deliberately throwing the ball back on the bounce is a slightly separate issue, and one about which both teams were warned at the start of play. “Every team in the world does that,” Bayliss retorted. “At different times they have tried to stamp it out, especially in white-ball games. But what do you do about a guy who’s got a bad shoulder and can’t throw it to the keeper on the full?”

Bayliss’s irritation at having to deal with the distraction of another Australian media-confected controversy was palpable. Shane Warne, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson and Michael Slater were all among the ex-players who cast a suspicious eye on England’s ability to extract reverse swing early in the Australian innings. “They were players once too,” Bayliss said tersely. “That’s all I’ll say.”

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Meanwhile, Bayliss was optimistic of England’s chances of forcing a result and winning their first Test of the series, after rain halted their charge on Friday. “It’s a bit frustrating, but we’ve got an opportunity tomorrow to win, so that’s the attitude we’ve got to take,” he said. “We showed in the first innings that we can take a number of wickets quickly, and 98 overs is more than enough to force a result.”