President of the Far South Coast Cricket Association Martin Sims said ball tampering had “never been an issue” in the competition.

“It’s mainly because we play short-form cricket,” he said. “The advantages of ball tampering only apply to the longer forms.

“In Test cricket you use the ball for 80 overs, so the condition is much more important.

“There’d be nothing to gain from it in our competition.”

However, Mr Sims feared the fallout might filter down to local club budgets.

“Grassroots cricket was always looking for some money that would potentially filter down from broadcast rights money,” he said. “This has potentially lost Cricket Australia millions of dollars.

“At our level, we’re wondering if the money that may have filtered down to us is even there anymore.”

Mr Sims said he was “upset” and “disgusted” when he found out the Australian cricket team had cheated.

“I think Australian cricket has been on a pedestal, we’ve always looked down on other countries for that type of behaviour,” he said.

“We’ve always been critical of other teams for cheating or even been perceived to cheat.

“Most cricketers in Australia were appalled when we found out our own team dropped to that level.”

Mr Sims also laments for the children who looked up to these former heroes.

“These guys are at the pinnacle of cricket,” he said. “These are the guys the kids watch, they’re their heroes.

“It sends an appalling message back to grassroots cricket.

“He’s (Steve Smith) been branded as a cheat, and there are a lot of kids who have had their hero very tarnished.”