Australian cricket endured one of the most tumultuous 24 hours in its history as coach Darren Lehmann resigned in tears only hours after a distraught Steve Smith admitted: 'I'll regret this for the rest of my life.'
Lehmann decided to quit after watching Smith and Cameron Bancroft deliver emotional press conferences on their return to Australia after being sent home following the ball-tampering controversy in South Africa.
Lehmann had been given the all-clear by Cricket Australia to carry on, despite presiding over a dressing room in which Bancroft felt emboldened to tamper with the ball during the third Test in Cape Town.
He will now leave at the end of the fourth Test, starting on Friday in Johannesburg, with Justin Langer and Jason Gillespie among the favourites to replace him.
undefined'My family has copped a lot of abuse and it's taken its toll on them,' said Lehmann. 'After viewing Steve and Cameron's hurting, it's only fair that I make this decision. I'm ultimately responsible for the culture of the team.'
Lehmann's resignation after nearly five years in charge completed an extraordinary few hours, after Smith – his father Peter standing behind him – broke down while speaking to the media at Sydney airport.
'To all of my team-mates, to fans of cricket all over the world, and to all Australians who are disappointed and angry, I'm sorry,' Smith said, reflecting on the events that have cost him his reputation and his job, and earned him a one-year ban.
'I want to make clear that as captain of the team, I take full responsibility. I made a serious error of judgment. I'll do everything I can to make up for my mistake, and the damage it's caused.
'I know I'll regret this for the rest of my life. I'm absolutely gutted. I hope in time, I can earn back respect and forgiveness. I'm sorry and I'm absolutely devastated.'
It was the most emotional press conference by an Australian captain since Kim Hughes resigned in tears in 1984. Smith's predecessor in the job, Michael Clarke, summed up a nation's mood with a one-word tweet: 'Devastating.'
Former England captain Nasser Hussain said of Lehmann's tearful resignation: "He has been responsible for the Australian culture that now so needs changing.
"He needed to take responsibility for that and in moving on he has allowed someone else to oversee that change.
'I repeat, from my dealings with him he is an honourable man and he probably looked across at Smith and Cameron Bancroft fronting up to the TV cameras and asked himself: how can I possibly stay in my job while this is happening?
undefined'The coach's loyalty gene kicked in. I reckon those tears gave him back some of that missing perspective. And while we are on that subject I reckon we could all do with some.'
Former Australian prime minister John Howard, meanwhile, a self-confessed 'cricket tragic', said: 'There must be a way back afterwards but Smith can never be captain again. He's too weak.'
Earlier in the day, in Perth, Bancroft cut a forlorn figure as he asked for 'forgiveness' and — in a formulation echoed by Smith — admitted: 'I'll regret this for the rest of my life.'
Asked why he had not come clean about using sandpaper in an attempt to alter the condition of the ball, he said: 'I lied. I panicked, and I'm sorry. I feel like I've let everyone down in Australia and I'm not proud of that.
'The thing that breaks my heart the most is that I've just given up my spot in the team to somebody for free. I had the opportunity to take control of my own values and actions and I didn't. That's a big embarrassment for me.'
David Warner, who had instructed Bancroft to tamper with the ball, initially limited himself to a brief statement on Twitter.
He described the cheating scandal as 'a stain on the game we all love', and apologised for his part in it. He later spoke briefly to journalists on arrival in Australia, and promised to say more in the days ahead.
It was notable, though, that while both Smith and Bancroft spoke at events organised by the cricket authorities, Warner was left to his own devices, facing a media scrum at Sydney airport accompanied only by his wife Candice and their two children. His days as an international sportsman are over.
To make matters worse for the game in Australia, financial group Magellan announced they were pulling out of their £11million sponsorship deal with the Test team — only eight months after signing a three-year agreement.
Magellan boss Hamish Douglass cited a 'conspiracy by the leadership of the Australian men's Test cricket team so inconsistent with our values that we are left with no option but to terminate our partnership'.
Smith has also lost his lucrative sponsorship deal with food company Sanitarium and an ambassador's role with Commonwealth Bank.
The rumpus, however, is not over. Despite the Australian team's repeated insistence that they had never tampered with the ball before Cape Town, South African captain Faf du Plessis said his team felt something was amiss earlier in the series when the Australian fast bowlers achieved reverse swing more quickly than usual.
Another blow for Bancroft also came on Thursday when Somerset then released a statement to announce they would not be taking the Australian as an overseas player this season.
The club's director of cricket, Andy Hurry, said he had been in constant contact with the opening batsman since the incident, but decided it was in their best interest to not take the player this season.
'Over the last few days, cricket has been over shadowed by a very dark cloud,' said Hurry.
'There has been an understandable amount of emotion, deliberation, varying degrees of language and opinions across the game, the public and the various media platforms all associated with the alteration to the condition of the ball by Cameron Bancroft during the Third Test in Cape Town.
'It's important we remember there is a young man at the centre of all this, he made a poor choice, as I and I'm sure many of us have done during our lives. What's important now, is Cameron is given the appropriate support. There is no doubt in my mind, he will learn from this and he will return stronger.
'I have met this morning with the CEO, club captain and head coach and with the club's best interests at the centre of our decision can confirm Cameron Bancroft will not be our overseas player for the 2018 season.
'We are currently undertaking the process to recruit a replacement overseas player that best fits our needs and will share an update in due course.'