The history of international cricket is almost 150 years old and in this long journey, many wonderful and revolutionary moments have been seen in cricket. But many such occasions also came which brought disrepute to this game. Sometimes fans set fire in the stadium, sometimes players fight during the match and sometimes match fixing. Such incidents have only harmed cricket. Something similar happened on March 24, when on the grounds of Cape Town the captain of Australia carried out an incident which was seen by the whole world. The incident was- sandpaper.
Exactly 8 years ago today, the third match of the Test series was being played between South Africa and Australia and the third day of the match was going on. In the last two matches of this series, there was a lot of heat and confrontation between the players of both the teams. In such a situation, some conflict was expected in the third test also. But in that match, a bigger incident than the collision of players took place, when a video was played on the screen of Newlands Stadium on the third day.
Bancroft-Smith and Warner’s shameful plan
South Africa was batting and Australia was looking for a wicket. Then it was seen on the screen that Australian player Cameron Bancroft was taking something out of his pocket and rubbing it on the ball. He did this 2-3 times. As soon as he saw this on the screen, he put this thing inside his trousers. In such a situation, the umpires called him and Australian captain Steve Smith and asked what was going on. After some hesitation it was revealed that Bancroft was using ‘sandpaper’. This is a paper which is used to remove rust. He was trying to age the ball by rubbing it on it so that it could reverse swing.
In such a short time, it turned into a big ruckus and then after the end of the day’s play, Smith and Bancroft came in front of the media. Here both of them admitted that they did this. Both of them said that this idea came to them during lunch break and they decided to try it. Smith admitted that the leadership group, i.e. he and vice-captain David Warner, were aware of this and were ashamed of their actions.
Cricket Australia banned
This incident created a storm in the cricket world because ball tampering is a legal offense and doing it deliberately as part of a plan rather than accidentally was the most shameful thing. Cricket Australia then took action and called the three players back to the country after the match was over. Tim Paine took command in the fourth Test match and remained the captain for the next 3-4 years. Cricket Australia banned all three players for one year. All three returned in 2019, out of which Bancroft could play only one Test match, while Warner remained a part of the team till his retirement, while Smith is still playing.
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