Trevor Bayliss dismissed Australian allegations of ball tampering by England as “beat up” stories and “pommie bashing” after footage emerged of James Anderson appearing to dig his nail into the ball.
Bayliss claimed the umpires told him there was nothing in the suggestions, which were first aired by commentators on Channel 9 and then picked up by other sections of the Australian media. The match referee, Ranjan Madugalle, confirmed after play that both teams had been warned about scuffing the ball up by deliberately throwing it to the wicketkeeper on the half-volley, but there were no reports of ball tampering.
“It is a beat up. As soon as I saw the headlines I raced into the umpires. The words they used were it was a ‘beat up’ and that it is absolutely fine. That is as much as I know. You are allowed to clean the ball. Kumar (Dharmasena, umpire) said to both sides that he has no problem cleaning the ball but he would like them do it in front of umpires so they can see nothing untoward is going on. There is a bit of dirt and mud on the outfield that does get on the ball and the seams and you are allowed to clean it off.
“If he (Anderson) was trying to scratch it he was scratching the wrong side. I am sure that is not the case. We've had a good couple of days and there hasn't been too much positive press from their (Australia) point of view. It's a bit of pommie-bashing. You've got to laugh it off and put up with it."
Stuart Broad later picked a piece of leather off the ball with the permission of the umpires. Nine then broadcast a freeze-frame image of Anderson looking as though he was picking the ball with his left thumb. "I'm not sure you are allowed to use your fingernail there," said Shane Warne on commentary. Michael Slater said: “That’s interesting, you can't get your nail into the ball. That’s a no-no.”
