Clarke uses childhood defence to send 'Hot Spot bat-coating conspiracy' for six

Australian captain Michael Clarke has laughed off suggestions that players were using silicon tape to hoodwink the Hot Spot technology in the Ashes, saying that he started putting a cover on his bat as a money-saving method.

According to Stuff.co.nz, the laws of cricket state that tape and other non-solid materials can be used to protect, strengthen and repair the bat, including the edges, which could include using liquids and tapes.

The report further said that oil was once used extensively to protect bats, before fibreglass sheets replaced that method.

Stating that he used fibreglass sheets on his bat since he was 12 years old, Clarke said that putting a cover on his bat started out as a money-saving method since he got his first bat from Slazenger and dismissed suggestions that players were using tape to cheat

According to the skipper, he used a fibreglass face on the bat because his family could not afford two, three, five or ten cricket bats, adding that his father made him put a cover on his bat to protect it and make it last longer.

Clarke also recalled that he used to cover his bat from the material his mother used to cover his schoolbooks in.