OUR SAY: Australian cricket team now a national disgrace

Australian captain Steve Smith and teammate Cameron Bancroft admitted to tampering with the ball over the weekend.

I'VE been left shocked and disgusted by the news that members of the Australian cricket team tampered with the ball during a test match in South Africa.

Australian captain Steve Smith and teammate Cameron Bancroft admitted to tampering with the ball over the weekend and Smith and his vice captain Dave Warner have stood down from their position just before play was set to begin on Sunday night.

My question is, why did it take so long to make the decision to stand down on Sunday?

It should have been an automatic reaction.

You cheat, you go.

This is not a small thing. This is against the essential spirit of the game.

The man who bears the most responsibility for upholding those standards is the captain and Smith has shown through his own actions he has no regard for the most basic tenets of the game.

We know how important winning is to the Australian cricket team.

Everyone loves to see them succeed.

But winning by cheating isn't really winning.

It's hollow, empty and wrong.

It's far better to lose with honour - giving it your all and doing the absolute best you can - than cheat and win.

The fact that Smith couldn't see that shows that he is not an appropriate person to captain a marbles team, let alone the Australian cricket team.

This is going to be a tough time for the Australian cricket team and we must hope that a true leader will emerge from this mess.