England’s James Anderson caught up in ball tampering row in Ashes Test

MELBOURNE: The cricket’s one of the top rivalries Ashes doesn’t always conclude without a controversy. And this time there was not just one. The latest issue adding to miseries of England is the ball-tampering allegations on pacer James Anderson.

Anderson has faced censure from Australian TV commentators who accused him of ball tampering in the fourth and penultimate Ashes Test in Melbourne.

In the first sessions of the fourth day, umpires S Ravi and Kumar Dharmasena spoke to England captain Joe Root after Stuart Broad threw the ball from mid-on that bounced well short of wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow on the hard wicket block.

If that wasn’t a grave concern to be worried about for the Aussies, television cameras captured Anderson nailing the quarter-seam of the ball that runs down the face of the ball. Seeing that, Michael Slater, who was on the air that time with his former teammate Shane Warne, instantly, said, “You can’t get your nail into the ball. That’s a no-no.”

Mitchell Johnson raised questions on how England were able to extract reverse swing after only 10 overs.

“Ball reversing under 10 overs,” the 36-year-old wrote on Twitter.

But former England captain Michael Vaughan was quick to jump to Anderson’s defence.

“Ball tampering incident is ridiculous … Clearly a slow news day in #Melbourne … #OnOn,” he posted.