England and Australia players rejected claims on Wednesday that bats may have been tampered with during the Ashes series to avoid detection by infrared cameras, while cricket chiefs sought to assure them about the quality of the technology.
The International Cricket Council has sent a senior official to Durham ahead of the fourth Test to address player concerns about the Decision Review System (DRS) after several contentious calls during the Ashes.
The ICC, though, has yet to respond to claims by Australian broadcaster Channel Nine that silicon tape might have been attached to the edges of bats 'to fool' the DRS.
'My name brought up in hotspot crisis, suggesting I use silicon to prevent nicks showing! Such hurtful lies,' England batsman Kevin Pietersen wrote on Twitter.
In one of several contentious DRS decisions, Pietersen was given out caught-behind during the third Test even though HotSpot indicated he had not hit the ball.
'I am never afraid of getting out! If I nick it, I’ll walk,' Pietersen tweeted. 'To suggest I cheat by covering my bat with silicon infuriates me. How stupid would I be to try & hide a nick when it could save me on an LBW appeal, like in 1st innings where hotspot showed I nicked it.'
Australia captain Michael Clarke dismissed the allegations as 'quite funny.'
'I can tell you there is not one person in the Australian change-rooms who is a cheat,' Clarke was quoted as saying by Australian media. 'That’s not the way we play cricket. I know no one is going to the extreme of saying ‘put this on your bat because it will help you beat HotSpot’
'I didn’t know there was such a thing you could do to hide nicking the ball on HotSpot. I wouldn’t think it would make any difference. I’ve never heard of anyone doing it.'