TV footage of the scandal-hit third Test showed Lehmann relaying a message down to Handscomb after cameras caught Cameron Bancroft attempting to alter the ball's condition with what Australian officials have said was sandpaper
Darren Lehmann
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Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland said yesterday that coach Darren Lehmann's furious walkie-talkie exchange with 12th man Peter Handscomb was the crucial evidence that distanced him from the team's ball tampering plot.
TV footage of the scandal-hit third Test showed Darren Lehmann relaying a message down to Handscomb after cameras caught Cameron Bancroft attempting to alter the ball's condition with what Australian officials have said was sandpaper. "I want to clarify that specific point. He sent a message to say 'what the hell is going on', except he didn't use the word 'hell'," Sutherland told reporters here.
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Satisfied with investigation
"[Cricket Australia's head of integrity] Iain Roy in his investigation found that to be the fact. "I am satisfied that Darren Lehmann was not involved and didn't know anything about the plan," Sutherland added.
Meanwhile, former Australia captain Allan Border backed under-fire coach Darren Lehmann saying he is one of the "good guys" in the country's cricketing culture. "If [the] integrity officer has been thorough and interviewed people and he's satisfied that Darren Lehmann didn't know specifically what was going on at the time, I'm very relaxed," he told Fox Sports.
"That's a good news item, isn't it, not the other way.
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Darren's a good guy: Border
"We're talking about one of the good guys in Australian cricket," he continued. "He's done a fantastic job with that team and if he wasn't aware of what was going on, there's no problem at all," Border added.
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