London, Dec 27 (ANI): Indian origin England batsman Ravi Bopara is considering suing former cricketer Dermot Reeve over his ball-tampering jibes.

Reeve accused Bopara of scratching the ball with his fingernail in an attempt to gain reverse swing during Central Districts’ defeat by Auckland on Tuesday.

Bopara, 24, is fuming after Districts coach Reeve claimed he would “swear on his children’s lives” he spotted the Essex all-rounder cheating.

“Dermot must be going mad. Nothing untoward took place either from me, or from any of our other bowlers. He’s entitled to his view but people shouldn’t make judgments without checking the facts first,” News of the World quoted Bopara, as saying.

New Zealand Cricket chief Justin Vaughan believes Reeve may have brought the game into disrepute and has launched an inquiry. And players’ chief Heath Mills advised Bopara to seek legal advice over the allegations - made after he took 1-48 in a one-day clash.

“This is a serious allegation. It borders on defamatory. If a player had made comments of this nature, there is no doubt the code of conduct and every other book would have been thrown at them. I certainly expect that this will happen on this occasion as well,” Mills said.

TV images have so far failed to provide any evidence of wrongdoing by Bopara.

Bopara, playing for Auckland in a bid to revive his England career, added: “It was a windy day and we managed to get the ball to swing against the wind. Dermot couldn’t work out how we got the ball to swing in those conditions so, without checking the facts, he accused me.” (ANI)