Cricket is Life: Nannes rejects Afridi ball tamper claims

Twenty20 paceman Dirk Nannes has rejected Shahid Afridi's claims on ball tampering and insists bowlers can be effective without breaking cricket's laws.The claims made by the suspended Pakistan star, that every side in the world illegally tampered with the ball, did not wash with Nannes, who is in the Australian squad for Friday night's Twenty20 game at the MCG and has played county cricket in England, in the Indian Premier League and with the Dutch national side.

"It's no secret that everyone wants to change the condition of the ball but that's through shining the ball and things like that," Nannes said on Tuesday."Everyone around the world does that in cricket. "I'm not really sure what he was referring to with those comments, but I know from a Victorian perspective we don't do that sort of thing and I don't know anyone around the country who actually does it.

Nannes said he did not know of anyone in Australia or England who had done anything to alter the condition of a ball, even though bowlers were capable of gaining conventional or reverse swing. Afridi's all-round talents will be sorely missed on Friday night by Pakistan, who were white-washed by Australia in the three Tests and five one-dayers.

Allrounder Shoaib Malik will lead the tourists in their last match of the tour.

Afridi was widely condemned by former players in his homeland for his bizarre ball biting in Perth, but former Australia captain Allan Border claimed his two-match ban was too lenient given the allrounder's history of disciplinary indiscretions.

"It wasn't enough given that he's been a bit of a serial offender in front of ICC (International Cricket Council) disciplinary committees," Border said on Fox Sports.

"You've got to send a strong message out that you just don't want this sort of stuff happening on field."

Nannes is one of the beneficiaries of Australia's selection of a specialist Twenty20 squad, the left-arm quick being a star in the domestic competition the past few seasons.

His expertise was on show in the recent domestic final where his 1-8 from four overs was decisive in the Bushrangers' win over South Australia.

Nannes' parentage qualified him for the Netherlands in last year's Twenty20 world championship. He was selected for Australia against England later in the year but the game was rained out before he bowled.

Nannes said he was excited about the prospect of playing his first home game for his country at a packed MCG and equally eager to earn a spot in the next Twenty20 world championship in green and gold, after wearing orange last time.

"I'd love to, I'd love to," he said. "That was a great experience, beating the Poms at Lord's, that first game was a massive highlight for me. "It's great to be recognised to be in the Australian team, whether that gets me a place to the world cup, that would be fantastic."