HOBART, Australia (Reuters)
Australia's captain Steve Waugh has backed the International Cricket Council (ICC) after world cricket's governing body handed Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar a suspended one-match ban for ball tampering.

"If he's picked the seam then he's got to pay the penalty like everyone else," Waugh told a news conference in Hobart ahead of Thursday's second Test against New Zealand.

"There shouldn't be any favours just because of your reputation or the way you play the game. I think it's been going on too long, the ball tampering, affecting the state of the ball.

"There's a ball there and there's a bat and that's the contest," Waugh said. "If you alter either of those you shouldn't be playing. It's pretty simple I think. If someone does something wrong they're going to get penalised. In the past I think a lot of players were let off. It wasn't consistent so if that's what they're trying to do it's good for cricket."

Tendulkar was given a suspended one-match ban for ball tampering during this week's second Test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth, sparking Indian outrage. Tendulkar, widely regarded as the world's leading batsman and revered in India, was also fined 75 percent of his match fee by match referee Mike Denness.

Former England captain Denness ruled Tendulkar had brought the game into disrepute by "acting on the ball" on the third day of the second Test.

"Everyone knows how you are supposed to play, you are not supposed to tamper with the ball, and if they do that they will face the consequences," Waugh said.

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