Dravid's 'crime' is a sweet mistake

India coach John Wright came to Rahul Dravid's defence today after the team's vice-captain was fined half his match fee for ball tampering during the VB series win over Zimbabwe in Brisbane.

Dravid, who top scored in yesterday's match with 84, was caught on camera appearing to rub a cough sweet on to the white ball.

After watching a TV close-up of the incident, International Cricket Council match referee Clive Lloyd found Dravid guilty of a breach of the code of conduct.

"It was an innocent mistake," Wright said. "He was applying saliva to the ball and the saliva was coloured with that sweet. It's a silly thing but Rahul knew straight away what had happened and that's why you could see he tried to wipe it clean."