England's cricketers are at the centre of a ball-tampering row after South Africa "raised concerns" with the match referee, Roshan Mahanama.
On the hottest day of the tour so far, England's bowlers had already felt the heat as South Africa took charge of the third Test, scoring 312 for two to take a lead of 330 at the end of the third day. But things got even warmer at the end of play when Cricket South Africa revealed that it had spoken with Mahanama regarding the condition of the ball, though no official complaint was lodged.
Television cameras showed Stuart Broad stopping a straight drive with the sole of his boot during the opening session of play. His fellow England fast bowler Jimmy Anderson was also seen picking at scuffs on the ball. The footage was replayed several times on local TV. When the players took the field after lunch both umpires, Daryl Harper and Tony Hill, were seen speaking with the England captain, Andrew Strauss.
A CSA spokesman said: "There have been several queries from the media about video footage shown today, and certain allegations being made about the ball. We have raised our concerns with the match referee about it and we've left it to him to decide if any further action or investigation is necessary."
Mahanama said: "There are certain protocols to be observed and I have received no official complaint. It has been a long hot day." He added that if South Africa were to take the matter any further the official documentation would have to be in place before the start of playtomorrow.
Unless that documentation is put in place first thing there will be strong suspicions that South Africa are employing gamesmanship. An England spokesman said: "We totally refute any suggestions of ball tampering or malpractice."
Broad was said to be "bemused" and that it was laziness that made him stop the ball with his boot. Neither the umpires nor the match referee spoke about the incident with the England management, who are understood to be furious about the suggestions.
At the close, England's coach, Andy Flower, said: "The umpires or match referee haven't said anything to us about that. That's the first I've heard of it. I think over the years we have seen a lot of tall fast bowlers stop balls with their feet, so I don't see anything sinister in it all."
If England did do anything sinister they did not do it very well. They failed to take a wicket for 54 overs while South Africa's captain, Graeme Smith, (162no) and Hashim Amla (95) put on 230, a second-wicket Test record for the ground.
