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London - England pacemen James Anderson and Stuart Broad both insisted on Saturday they had nothing to be ashamed of after being caught up in suggestions of ball-tampering during the third Test against South Africa.
The Proteas raised concerns over the state of the ball after television pictures showed Broad stopping the ball with the underside of his boot and Anderson working on it with his fingers moments later.
However, South Africa did not follow through with a formal complaint and the International Cricket Council declared the matter closed, meaning neither fast bowler would face disciplinary action.
However, former England captain Michael Vaughan said the duo had been "lucky", with Anderson especially fortunate to have avoided a ban which would have ruled him out of next week's series finale.
But Anderson told Saturday's edition of Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper his actions at Cape Town's Newlands ground were entirely innocent.
"To be caught up in suggestions of ball-tampering was a huge disappointment," said the Lancashire fast bowler.
"It led to a lot of comment and cast a shadow over me and Stuart Broad when we'd done nothing wrong except be a bit absent-minded and lazy.
"I know my old England captain Michael Vaughan is entitled to his opinion but I was a little bit hurt by some of the comments he made about me, because I'd like to think he knew me well enough to know I wouldn't do something like that," Anderson insisted.
He added: "I definitely was not altering the ball to try and help us, I was just looking at it and playing with it. There was a tuft of leather that had come up and I wasn't digging in any nails or anything like that into the ball."
Broad meanwhile conceded he'd been lazy in stopping the ball with his boot but said it was ridiculous to believe that could help induce reverse-swing or somehow alter the ball's condition in another way that would aid the bowlers.
"My actions in stopping the ball with my boot have been questioned but I am not the first bowler to stop a ball with his size 12s and I will not be the last," Broad told Saturday's edition of Britain's Daily Mail.
"It was close to 40 degrees Celsius out there in Newlands at the time and, if I was guilty of anything, it was just laziness in not bending down to pick up the ball.
"Ball-tampering? That's astonishing. For one thing, if I was skilled enough to be able to step on the scuffed up side of the ball and know exactly what I was doing to create an unfair advantage with my feet, I would be playing football in the Premier League rather than cricket for England."
England, in a repeat of the series opener, drew the third Test with just one wicket standing on Thursday.
That left with them an unbeatable 1-0 series lead ahead of the fourth and final Test at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg which starts next Thursday.
The Proteas raised concerns over the state of the ball after television pictures showed Broad stopping the ball with the underside of his boot and Anderson working on it with his fingers moments later.
However, South Africa did not follow through with a formal complaint and the International Cricket Council declared the matter closed, meaning neither fast bowler would face disciplinary action.
However, former England captain Michael Vaughan said the duo had been "lucky", with Anderson especially fortunate to have avoided a ban which would have ruled him out of next week's series finale.
But Anderson told Saturday's edition of Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper his actions at Cape Town's Newlands ground were entirely innocent.
"To be caught up in suggestions of ball-tampering was a huge disappointment," said the Lancashire fast bowler.
"It led to a lot of comment and cast a shadow over me and Stuart Broad when we'd done nothing wrong except be a bit absent-minded and lazy.
"I know my old England captain Michael Vaughan is entitled to his opinion but I was a little bit hurt by some of the comments he made about me, because I'd like to think he knew me well enough to know I wouldn't do something like that," Anderson insisted.
He added: "I definitely was not altering the ball to try and help us, I was just looking at it and playing with it. There was a tuft of leather that had come up and I wasn't digging in any nails or anything like that into the ball."
Broad meanwhile conceded he'd been lazy in stopping the ball with his boot but said it was ridiculous to believe that could help induce reverse-swing or somehow alter the ball's condition in another way that would aid the bowlers.
"My actions in stopping the ball with my boot have been questioned but I am not the first bowler to stop a ball with his size 12s and I will not be the last," Broad told Saturday's edition of Britain's Daily Mail.
"It was close to 40 degrees Celsius out there in Newlands at the time and, if I was guilty of anything, it was just laziness in not bending down to pick up the ball.
"Ball-tampering? That's astonishing. For one thing, if I was skilled enough to be able to step on the scuffed up side of the ball and know exactly what I was doing to create an unfair advantage with my feet, I would be playing football in the Premier League rather than cricket for England."
England, in a repeat of the series opener, drew the third Test with just one wicket standing on Thursday.
That left with them an unbeatable 1-0 series lead ahead of the fourth and final Test at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg which starts next Thursday.
