Jacinda Ardern has today condemned the Australian cricket team's sticky tape ball tampering as "just not cricket", saying the public outrage swelling up across the Tasman was totally justified.
"It's not within the rules, and it's no wonder that the public are outraged by it and I think the New Zealand public would be too if we had a recent occurrence of it on our soil here too," Ms Ardern said
Australian batsman Cameron Bancroft admitted he tampered with the ball using tape to scruff up one side during the third Test against South Africa.
Captain Steve Smith fronted the media yesterday with Bancroft saying himself and members of the team leadership knew in advance and condoned the tampering.
1 NEWS Australia Correspondent Kimberlee Downs gives her thoughts over the fiasco that's enveloped Australian cricket. (Source: Other)
The Prime Minister was also questioned whether Bancroft's breach was worse than the notorious bottle cap ball tampering incident which the Black Caps used against Pakistan in a 1990 test in Faisalabad.
"Look I think it's all as bad as each other, it's not within the rules and it's tampering," she said.
"And yes there has been acknowledgment that it's happened in the past. I don't think that condones it's use as a tactic in the future in a sport that's meant to be all about fair play."
However, Ms Ardern would not go so far as to say the incident tarnished Australia's entire reputation globally.
Steve Smith has been suspended one match after he admitted Cameron Bancroft cheated in the third Test against South Africaa. (Source: Other)
"As much as I agree that it's not fair play and it's not within keeping of the reputation of the sport, I'm not going to, and I'm sure members of the New Zealand public will not let that get in the way of their overall view of Australians," she said.
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