Dry Smith doesn't crack at lip balm chat

Australia skipper Steve Smith laughed off any suggestion of ball tampering after he was captured applying saliva from the side of his mouth to the ball in yesterday's 16-run loss to England in Sydney.

When Smith picked up the ball at point in the 34th over of England's innings, he gathered spit from the corner of his mouth to help shine with the white ball bowled by express paceman Pat Cummins, sparking an instant social media reaction.

The suggestion was Smith was applying lip balm to the ball to help one side stay firm and shiny in order to generate reverse swing with the ball that was 17 overs old.

But Smith, who had seen the vision prior to entering the post-match press conference, quickly dismissed any notion of foul play.

"It was all spit," Smith said.

"People said something about lip balm.

"If you look at my lips they're pretty dry, I certainly didn't have any of that on.

"It's just the way I get some spit into the side of my mouth and get some spit on to the ball.

"There was nothing in it."

Ball tampering came into the spotlight last summer when South Africa captain Faf du Plessis was captured using a mint to shine the ball in a Test in Hobart.

Du Plessis appealed his charge of ball tampering and lost and was subsequently fined his entire match fee and given three demerit points to his record.

England quick James Anderson was shown using his thumbnail on the ball during the Boxing Day Test this summer, but any claim of ball tampering was quickly shot down by the tourists' head coach Trevor Bayliss and ICC match Ranjan Madugalle.

"It's a beat-up," England coach Trevor Bayliss said.

"As soon as I saw the headlines I raced into the umpires and that was their words: nothing to worry about, it was a beat-up, absolutely fine.

"If he was trying to scratch it, he was scratching the wrong side."

2017-18 International Fixtures

Gillette ODI Series v England

Australia ODI squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Cameron White, Adam Zampa.

England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

First ODI England won by five wickets at the MCG

Second ODI England won by four wickets at the Gabba

Third ODI England won by 16 runs at the SCG

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

England T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, David Willey, Mark Wood.

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final TBC, Eden Park, February 21