IN response to Val Barrett (‘Somerset should still welcome Bancroft’, Postbag, April 5).

Seemingly, Somerset were in constant touch with Cameron Bancroft while Cricket Australia were deliberating as to what action to take over the ball-tampering incident in the Test match at Cape Town.

Once it became global news, the governing body of the Australian game acted swiftly to address the problem, which is blatant cheating.

The 25-year-old batsman, who was coming to Somerset, did what he did under instructions from his captain and another teammate playing in the same Test.

READ MORE: LETTER: 'Somerset should have helped Bancroft'

They all knew what they were doing was illegal. All three have been punished for so doing and they’ve all been very upset and remorseful.

Surely, with Test matches now under the spotlight of cameras for the game itself and for television, they were either very naive or thought they could get away with it.

If these players had a global ban, instead of a ban just in Australia, then Somerset wouldn’t have been put in this difficult position.

Sadly, there’s a lot of cheating going on in all the top major sports - win at all costs.

Sport is now a very big industry, with billions of pounds swilling around, and individual players in all sports multi-millionaires, some with inflated egos and hyped up by the mass media as superstars and celebrities.

Whatever the sport or game you play, nobody is bigger than the game itself.

Yes, it's very disappointing that Bancroft isn’t coming to play for Somerset this season.

Opinions among members and supporters were divided on this issue but for the good of the game, the county had no choice.

ALAN FOYLE
Taunton