During the Test series played with South Africa in 2018, the Australian team committed such a scandal, from which Cricket Australia has not been able to get rid of till date. Yes, we are talking about the famous ball-tampering controversy of 2018 i.e. Sandpapergate. Now Usman Khawaja has mentioned this incident in his book 'Sabr', which has once again created an uproar. Former Australian opener David Warner has also now raised questions on Cricket Australia's investigation into this controversy.
Warner alleges that Cricket Australia did not interrogate Australia's three great bowlers Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon in the investigation conducted at that time. Warner expressed his displeasure through a post on social media platform Instagram on Saturday.
What allegations did Warner make?
David Warner named Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and spinner Nathan Lyon in his Instagram post. He says that as far as he is aware, Cricket Australia did not interrogate these three bowlers during the initial investigation conducted in 2018. Warner wrote “As far as I know, CA did not interview Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc or Nathan Lyon in its 2018 investigation. If this is true, how can CA say that the bowlers were not aware?”
He further said, “It seems that they had decided from the beginning who to blame, conducted a shoddy investigation to achieve their objective and now they want to maintain the false narrative that the bowlers had no knowledge of anything. This is an attempt to cover up.”
Then why did the Sandpapergate controversy come into discussion?
This entire controversy has again come into discussion after the release of former Australian opener Usman Khawaja's autobiography 'Sabr'. Khawaja has claimed in his book that the knowledge of the ball tampering plan in 2018 was not limited to only those three players who were punished in this case. This claim of Khawaja has again rekindled the old controversy of Australian cricket. David Warner has also supported his views. However, Australia's current captain Pat Cummins has rejected the claim that the entire bowling unit knew that sandpaper was being brought on the field to change the condition of the ball.
What was the Sandpapergate controversy of 2018?
In the year 2018, a test match was being played between Australia and South Africa in Cape Town, South Africa. Meanwhile, Australian player Cameron Bancroft was seen on camera tampering with the surface of the ball with sandpaper. This incident is counted among the biggest controversies in the history of cricket.
In Cricket Australia's initial investigation, three players David Warner, Cameron Bancroft and Steve Smith were held responsible. In this case, Steve Smith and David Warner were banned for 12 months each, while Cameron Bancroft was suspended from cricket for 9 months.