Vics insist ball tamper charge won't sully final

Cricket Victoria chief executive Tony Dodemaide says he hopes the ball tampering by Bushrangers bowling coach Mick Lewis won't tarnish his side should they go on to win the Sheffield Shield final against South Australia.

Lewis was fined $2,266 – an amount equal to 50 per cent of a player's match fee – after he pleaded guilty to scraping the match ball on the concrete surrounding Glenelg's Gliderol Stadium on day three of the match against the West End Redbacks.

Quick Single: Lewis sanctioned for ball tampering

The Bushrangers were penalised five runs by the match officials while Cricket Victoria (CV) have also issued Lewis with an official reprimand on his record.

Dodemaide said the punishments from Cricket Australia and CV were appropriate in the circumstances and that Lewis had acknowledged he'd made a "stupid" mistake.

The Victorians gained no significant advantage from Lewis's misdemeanour, with the ball changed a few overs after the incident.

Dodemaide said it would be a shame if the controversy was to over-shadow what has been an engrossing season decider.

"We've had a terrific first-class match here, a terrific Shield final that's ebbed and flowed and both teams have played some magnificent first-class cricket," he said.

"And it'd be a shame if that would happen to tarnish a terrific advertisement for a Shield final.

Quick Single: Victoria on top on day four

"It was just a case of (Lewis) not thinking. I asked him the same question; what were you thinking?

"Because clearly in this day and age it's not acceptable at any level and there's no advantage, there’s no positive side to it.

"The ball was replaced straight away, there are five runs to the opposition which in a tight game could be very significant.

"It was just a stupidity all round, which he’s acknowledged."

Former Test batsman Damien Martyn weighed in on the incident, calling for a "serious investigation" and a heavy penalty "to set an example that this is just not on".

"It's not in our culture or our values that we hold dearly to ourselves in Australian cricket that this is acceptable," Martyn said.

"In the end it’s not the headlines we want as an Australian cricket community going around the world."

Quick Single: Aussie greats 'disgusted' by ball tampering

But Dodemaide dismissed the suggestion that punishment didn't go far enough.

"We believe it's appropriate in the circumstances," he said.

"It certainly doesn't reflect what we're about in Victorian cricket and something we don’t want to see and won't tolerate.

"Mick understands that and I'm sure he'll be better as a result."

Dodemaide added that Lewis's actions were particularly disappointing given the 41-year-old is charged with mentoring young players entering the Victorian system.

"Being a coach and handling young bowlers and young players coming through, it's not the example we want to set," he said.

"We’re all about playing good hard cricket but fair cricket in the spirit of cricket and that's certainly not in line with those values."

It's the second time in recent years that Victoria have been at the centre of a ball-tampering scandal against the Redbacks; batsman Aaron Finch was fined half of his match fee for an incident during a match in late 2010.

Dodemaide re-enforced that the practice was unacceptable and denied that a pattern was emerging.

"There was an example a couple of years ago with Finchy ... I acknowledge there's a couple of circumstances over a few years, but it's not something we want to build in to our game," he said.

"We want to take it out and that's what we've very quickly looked to eradicate."