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Geoff Lemon has a really good bit in his book* that talks about how long it was going on.
‘17 Ashes:
“Bouncers did over a third of the damage. Of the 89 Eng wickets, 30 fell to short balls, 21 to Lyon, 18 to nicks or pads with a new ball and only 16 to fuller deliveries with an older ball. There was a hint of reverse when Hazlewood trapped vince at the MCG inside 25 overs...”
He suggests it started in the SA tour. And that given the early reverse swing, both teams might have been at it.
*Steve Smith’s Men. Best cricket book I’ve read.
BRM
Nonsense. Comparing the well used tactic of ball tampering to the well used strategy of match fixing is perfectly sensible. It's cheating. Equating them may be of less use. Of more use might be adding the comparison of bowling a few materially inconsequential no-balls. There's a sliding scale of cheating cuntishness - the fact that Smith et al weren't betting on themselves seems to encourage some people to give them a free pass.