The footage showed a group of around 12 people drinking, walking and lying on the famous Perth pitch less than 24 hours before the start of the Third Test between Australia and India.
Sutherland was one of the people captured on the footage, which was beamed to India on national television, causing outrage amongst the country's officials.
Chief executive of the WACA Graeme Wood labelled the footage a beat-up, claiming the same thing has been happening for the past five years.
Sutherland staunchly defended the group's actions, declaring the footage was blown out of proportion, when those that filmed it didn't know the full story.
"We were working on it. Why didn't you come and ask us?" Sutherland told ABC Grandstand.
"At least Cricket Australia and Graeme said, 'well, what were you doing?' - we were working on the wicket.
"We were there for an hour, because Graeme actually rang me when I was on my way home last night and questioned me about it.
"So, the thing that Cricket Australia and certainly the WACA have done is got all the facts and said, 'that's a legitimate reason for you being out there, it's not as though you were just sitting on the wicket drinking beer for two hours'."
Australian part-time selector and Test great Rod Marsh brushed the controversy aside, saying the ground staff were welcome to do whatever they liked.
"It doesn't really worry me, nothing worries me about what ground staff do, because they work very hard," Marsh told ABC Grandstand.
"I'm very happy for them to do whatever they normally do - and if they normally do that, that's fine."
Indian television showed the footage, of what is understood to be a WACA tradition, which was taken around 7:30pm Perth time on Thursday night.
Indian officials are said to be fuming that the covers were removed and the pitch walked on so close to the start of the match.
ICC officials have also been shown the footage.