Michael Atherton, 1994
In the "dirt in pocket" affair, then England captain Michael Atherton was accused of ball tampering during a Test match with South Africa at Lord's in 1994 after television cameras caught Atherton reaching into his pocket and then rubbing a substance on the ball. Atherton denied ball tampering, claiming that he had dirt in his pocket which he used to dry his hands. He was also accused of lying to the match referee. Atherton was summoned to the match referee and was fined £2,000 for failing to disclose the dirt to the match referee.[4]
England cricket team, 2005
Marcus Trescothick admitted in his autobiography, Coming Back to Me, that he used mints to shine the ball to produce more swing: "It was my job to keep the shine on the new ball for as long as possible with a bit of spit and a lot of polish. And through trial and error I finally settled on the type of spit for the task at hand. It had been common knowledge in county cricket for some time that certain sweets produced saliva which, when applied to the ball for cleaning purposes, enabled it to keep its shine for longer and therefore its swing." He found Murray Mints worked the best.[11]
The admission came 3 years after the conclusion of the 2005 Ashes series, in which England beat Australia 2–1.
Just re these 2:
Atherton did not lie to the match referee. What he said was entirely consistent wwith what was found - and their was no evidence of the ball having been doctored. He was not fined following that game.
The £2000 fine came after the next Test. He was given out LBW after a massive knick into his pads. Half way back to the pavilion, and this could only be seen on TV, he raised his eyebrows.
Peter Burge petulantly decided this was questioning the umpires decision and in a fit of pique imposed a fine. If all players were fined in the same way there would be no professional game.
Re 2005, players are allowed to consume sweets, and drinks during the course of play. There is no problem with saliva getting on the ball as, like sweat, it is a naturally occurring substance.