Australia player Cameron Bancroft who was one of the three players apart from Steve Smith and David Warner in the Sandpaper gate scandal during the Newlands Test in 2018 made a shocking revelation recently.
Bancroft had hinted that the bowling unit that comprised Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon did have an idea about the alteration in the condition of the ball.
Despite not mentioning any name, Bancroft quipped that it was self-explanatory that the bowlers were aware that the ball was scuffed up with sandpaper.
However, Bancroft has backtracked on that statement now when Cricket Australia's Integrity Unit reached him to gather any additional information on the same. Bancroft claimed that he was affected by the barrage of questions and there was no malevolence behind his remarks. He did reach out to the bowlers to explain his recent comments.
The Aussie bowling attack that featured in that particular Test has now issued a joint statement saying that they had no idea about the tampering with the ball.
READ THE FULL STATEMENT HERE:
To The Australian Public
We pride ourselves on our honesty. So it’s been disappointing to see that our integrity has been questioned by some journalists and past players in recent days in regard to the Cape Town Test of 2018.
We have already answered questions many times on this issue, but we feel compelled to put the key facts on the record again:
We did not know a foreign substance was taken onto the field to alter the condition of the ball until we saw the images on the big screen at Newlands
And to those who, despite the absence of evidence, insist that ‘we must have known’ about the use of a foreign substance simply because we are bowlers, we say this: The umpires during that Test match, Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth, both very respected and experienced umpires, inspected the ball after the images surfaced on the TV coverage and did not change it because there was no sign of damage.
None of this excuses what happened on the field that day at Newlands. It was wrong and it should never have happened.
We’ve all learned valuable lessons and we’d like to think the public can see a change for the better in terms of the way we play, the way we behave and respect the game. Our commitment to improving as people and players will continue.
We respectfully request an end to the rumour-mongering and innuendo.
It has gone on too long and it is time to move on.
Regards
Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon
Bancroft was handed over a ban of nine months for his involvement while the then captain Smith and Warner were banned for one year. Darren Lehmann who was the then coach of the Australian side also stepped from his post.