<p align="justify" class="title">Former captain Michael Clarke urged a furious sporting public today to forgive Steve Smith over the cheating scandal that has plunged Australian cricket into crisis.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">He said Australia needed to move on from the anger over Smith's ball-tampering plot in the third Test against South Africa and work on restoring the sport's battered reputation.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">But Clarke acknowledged many fans would struggle to find sympathy for Smith over his role in a plan to have batsman Cameron Bancroft change the condition of the ball by illegally rubbing it with sticky yellow paper.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"I do feel for Steve Smith. 100 percent he has made a major mistake and he and a lot of other people I think are going to have to suffer the consequences," Clarke told Channel Seven.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"That's fair enough. But I think it's important that we do over time forgive as well."</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Australian cricket fans have long regarded the national team's style as hard but fair, even though many take issue with the boorish behaviour of some players in recent years.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The admission that an Australian Test captain helped hatch a premeditated plan to cheat, and the clumsy cover-up attempt that followed, has prompted genuine shock among cricket lovers.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Clarke, who handed over the captaincy to Smith in 2015, said changes needed to be implemented for the good of the game.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"When I woke up this morning a couple of things really stood in my mind -- this can never happen again," he said.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"I think that has to be Cricket Australia's focus, this can never, ever happen again in this great game of cricket.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"We have so much work to do to get cricket back to where it belongs."</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">High and mighty hypocrites </p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Clarke has likened the ball-tampering affair to "a bad dream" and cricketing greats have slammed Smith and his team-mates for bringing the game into disrepute.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">However, there have been some calls for perspective, including former New Zealand batsman Mark Richardson, who said interference to make the ball reverse swing was common in his playing days.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"It's very, very difficult to go to a former cricketer and get him to be totally outraged about ball-tampering because it would quickly make people hypocrites," the player turned television host told TV3.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"There was a time where we all were trying to work out how the heck you do this," he added, saying he did not remember tampering with the ball in an international match.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Richardson said the extreme reaction was because Australians in the past were quick to make cheating accusations while casting themselves as paragons.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Ex-England captain Michael Atherton, while criticising Smith, has also questioned whether ball-tampering deserved its reputation as a major sin.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"It has gone on since the year dot," said the former opener, who faced tampering allegations himself in 1994 when he rubbed dirt from his pocket on the ball during a Test against South Africa at Lord's.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"If the condition of the ball is changed, you get a five-run penalty and change the ball. That hardly sends the message that this is a heinous crime."</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">He told Sky Sport that ball-tampering was rated a level two offence under current laws but authorities should make it a top-of-the-scale level four if they felt it was so serious.</p>
<p align="justify" class="title">Former captain Michael Clarke urged a furious sporting public today to forgive Steve Smith over the cheating scandal that has plunged Australian cricket into crisis.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">He said Australia needed to move on from the anger over Smith's ball-tampering plot in the third Test against South Africa and work on restoring the sport's battered reputation.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">But Clarke acknowledged many fans would struggle to find sympathy for Smith over his role in a plan to have batsman Cameron Bancroft change the condition of the ball by illegally rubbing it with sticky yellow paper.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"I do feel for Steve Smith. 100 percent he has made a major mistake and he and a lot of other people I think are going to have to suffer the consequences," Clarke told Channel Seven.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"That's fair enough. But I think it's important that we do over time forgive as well."</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Australian cricket fans have long regarded the national team's style as hard but fair, even though many take issue with the boorish behaviour of some players in recent years.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The admission that an Australian Test captain helped hatch a premeditated plan to cheat, and the clumsy cover-up attempt that followed, has prompted genuine shock among cricket lovers.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Clarke, who handed over the captaincy to Smith in 2015, said changes needed to be implemented for the good of the game.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"When I woke up this morning a couple of things really stood in my mind -- this can never happen again," he said.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"I think that has to be Cricket Australia's focus, this can never, ever happen again in this great game of cricket.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"We have so much work to do to get cricket back to where it belongs."</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">High and mighty hypocrites </p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Clarke has likened the ball-tampering affair to "a bad dream" and cricketing greats have slammed Smith and his team-mates for bringing the game into disrepute.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">However, there have been some calls for perspective, including former New Zealand batsman Mark Richardson, who said interference to make the ball reverse swing was common in his playing days.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"It's very, very difficult to go to a former cricketer and get him to be totally outraged about ball-tampering because it would quickly make people hypocrites," the player turned television host told TV3.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"There was a time where we all were trying to work out how the heck you do this," he added, saying he did not remember tampering with the ball in an international match.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Richardson said the extreme reaction was because Australians in the past were quick to make cheating accusations while casting themselves as paragons.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Ex-England captain Michael Atherton, while criticising Smith, has also questioned whether ball-tampering deserved its reputation as a major sin.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"It has gone on since the year dot," said the former opener, who faced tampering allegations himself in 1994 when he rubbed dirt from his pocket on the ball during a Test against South Africa at Lord's.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"If the condition of the ball is changed, you get a five-run penalty and change the ball. That hardly sends the message that this is a heinous crime."</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">He told Sky Sport that ball-tampering was rated a level two offence under current laws but authorities should make it a top-of-the-scale level four if they felt it was so serious.</p>