Sandpaper Gate: Matter unlikely to escalate after Bancroft's reply to CA
May 18, 2021
Sydney [Australia], May 18 : Right-handed batsman Cameron Bancroft has responded to Cricket Australia's Integrity Unit, saying that he has no new information regarding the Sandpaper Gate.
Bancroft responded to Cricket Australia on Monday night. He replied in a conciliatory manner and he also indicated that he did not have significant new information to share with the board, reported Sydney Morning Herald.
He told Cricket Australia that he is supportive of the investigation and satisfied with the outcome. As a result, the matter is now unlikely to escalate.
Ever since Bancroft revealed that more than three people would have knowledge about the Sandpaper Gate, the fiasco has once again become a talking point in the cricketing world. Cricket Australia's Integrity team had reached out to the right-handed batsman to see if he has more information to give on the issue.
Sources within Cricket Australia had confirmed that the Integrity Team had reached out to Bancroft and they were waiting to hear from him. "The Integrity team has reached out to Cameron Bancroft today to see if he has some new information on the issue. We are waiting for a reply from his side. He is in the UK currently so it's still pretty early there," the source had told ANI.
Bancroft, who is playing county cricket in Durham, said it was 'probably self-explanatory' whether the bowlers were aware that the ball was being tampered with.
"Yeah, look, all I wanted to do was to be responsible and accountable for my own actions and part. Yeah, obviously what I did benefits bowlers and the awareness around that, probably, is self-explanatory," Bancroft said to the Guardian interviewer Donald McRae as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
"I guess one thing I learnt through the journey and being responsible is that's where the buck stops [with Bancroft himself]. Had I had better awareness I would have made a much better decision," he added.
When he was further stressed, Bancroft replied: "Uh... yeah, look, I think, yeah, I think it's pretty probably self-explanatory."
In March 2018, Bancroft was caught on camera trying to change the condition of the ball using sandpaper in a Test match against South Africa in Cape Town. The incident later went on to be labelled as the 'Sandpaper Gate' and is considered as one of the darkest moments in the history of Australian cricket.
