A match referee warned of disgraced Australian cricketers Steve Smith and David Warner "being involved in a ball-tampering incident" in the domestic Sheffield Shield in 2016, a media report said today.
The report came after Smith and Warner were stripped of the captaincy and vice-captaincy and banned for a year from the sport after being caught up in a plot to alter the condition of the ball during the third Test against South Africa tomorrow.
Daryl Harper said the pair were not engaging in fair play while representing New South Wales in a match against Victoria in November 2016, according to an email he sent to Cricket Australia's match referee and umpire selection manager Simon Taufel, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
"When David Warner repeatedly bounced his returns in to (NSW wicket-keeper) Peter Nevill on the first day, the umpires appealed to Smith to support their calls for fair play," the former Australian Test umpire reportedly wrote in the email.
"They weren't encouraged by his response. I assisted the umpires on the second morning by suggesting to (NSW coach) Trent Johnston that CA didn't need an issue with the national captain being involved in a ball-tampering incident."
"As it transpired, there were no further errant throws for the final three days of the game from either team. Steve's participation in the post-match meeting was quite limp, and not as I would expect from our national captain."