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Cape Town - It has emerged that South Africa put broadcaster Ten Sports under pressure to NOT show Vernon Philander's ball-tampering footage in their broadcast of the first Test between Sri Lanka and South African in Galle.
As it happened: SL v SA - Day 5
Philander was on Friday fined 75 percent of his match fee after breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the third day’s play.
He was captured on footage changing the condition of the ball by scratching the surface with his fingers and thumb. Philander dug his nails into the rough side of the ball at least twice and was also seen covering the ball with one hand while picking at it with the other. The footage, which was not aired during live coverage, was viewed by the umpires after the close of play.
According to the ESPNcricinfo website, the Ten Sports producers were put under pressure by the South African team not to have the footage shown in their broadcast.
A source of the cricket specialist website said the "Cricket SA (CSA) big-wigs made it clear they would not be happy if the incident was shown" on TV because it would create a "negative image of their team".
When Sri Lankan officials heard of the pressure put on the producers by CSA, they insisted that Ten Sports show the footage on Sunday, the final day of the match.
It was not the first skirmish between CSA and Ten Sports, which owns rights to broadcast South African cricket outside of South Africa on a basis of a R1.5bn contract.
Ten Sports also held the rights to air the Pakistan-South Africa series in the UAE last year when Faf du Plessis was caught on camera rubbing the ball near the zipper on his trouser pocket.
The television umpire alerted the on-field officials who awarded five penalty runs to Pakistan and changed the ball. Du Plessis was later fined 50% of his match fee after pleading guilty to ball tampering.
CSA was reportedly furious that the Du Plessis incident was shown, with an insider saying CSA threatened to take away Ten Sports' rights and deny them player interviews in future.
The Proteas won the first Test in Galle by 153 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.
CLICK HERE to read the full story on the ESPNcricinfo website.
As it happened: SL v SA - Day 5
Philander was on Friday fined 75 percent of his match fee after breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the third day’s play.
He was captured on footage changing the condition of the ball by scratching the surface with his fingers and thumb. Philander dug his nails into the rough side of the ball at least twice and was also seen covering the ball with one hand while picking at it with the other. The footage, which was not aired during live coverage, was viewed by the umpires after the close of play.
According to the ESPNcricinfo website, the Ten Sports producers were put under pressure by the South African team not to have the footage shown in their broadcast.
A source of the cricket specialist website said the "Cricket SA (CSA) big-wigs made it clear they would not be happy if the incident was shown" on TV because it would create a "negative image of their team".
When Sri Lankan officials heard of the pressure put on the producers by CSA, they insisted that Ten Sports show the footage on Sunday, the final day of the match.
It was not the first skirmish between CSA and Ten Sports, which owns rights to broadcast South African cricket outside of South Africa on a basis of a R1.5bn contract.
Ten Sports also held the rights to air the Pakistan-South Africa series in the UAE last year when Faf du Plessis was caught on camera rubbing the ball near the zipper on his trouser pocket.
The television umpire alerted the on-field officials who awarded five penalty runs to Pakistan and changed the ball. Du Plessis was later fined 50% of his match fee after pleading guilty to ball tampering.
CSA was reportedly furious that the Du Plessis incident was shown, with an insider saying CSA threatened to take away Ten Sports' rights and deny them player interviews in future.
The Proteas won the first Test in Galle by 153 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.
CLICK HERE to read the full story on the ESPNcricinfo website.
