Sandpaper Gate: Cricket Australia's Integrity team reaches out to Cameron Bancroft

Cricket Australia (CA)'s Integrity team has reached out to Cameron Bancroft after he hinted recently that more people in the team were aware of the ball-tampering scandal than the three who were punished.

Cameron Bancroft, Steve Smith and David Warner were handed suspensions for their roles in the ball-tampering controversy during the 2018 Cape Town Test. Now CA’s Integrity team will seek clarification from Cameron Bancroft over his recent claim.

Sources from CA confirmed to ANI that the Integrity Team has approached the Australian batsman and is now waiting to hear from him. The source was quoted as saying in this regard:

"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."

Cameron Bancroft brought Sandpaper Gate back into focus after saying that it was 'probably self-explanatory' about whether the bowlers were aware of the ball being tampered with.

Bancroft, who is now playing county cricket in Durham, was quoted as telling Guardian interviewer Donald McRae, according to a report by ESPNcricinfo:

"Yeah, look, all I wanted to do was to be responsible and accountable for my own actions and part. Yeah, obviously what I did benefitted the bowlers and the awareness around that, probably, is self-explanatory. 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."

Probed further on whether more players were aware of what was going on, Cameron Bancroft replied:

"Uh... yeah, look, I think, yeah, I think it's pretty, probably, self-explanatory."

Cameron Bancroft says it’s ‘self-explanatory’ that the Aussie bowlers knew about the ball-tampering tactics back in 2018 👀😳#Australia #SouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/KNDf2HYlpd

— Sportskeeda India (@Sportskeeda) May 15, 2021

CA had earlier said that it was open to re-investigation if anyone had more information on the matter. ESPNcricinfo quoted the CA spokesperson as saying in this regard:

"CA has maintained all along that if anyone is in possession of new information with regards to the Cape Town Test of 2018, they should come forward and present it. The investigation conducted at the time was detailed and comprehensive. Since then, no one has presented new information to CA that casts doubt on the investigation's findings."

Naive to think people were not aware of what was going on: Adam Gilchrist on Cameron Bancroft’s claim

Reacting to Cameron Bancroft's claim over the ball-tampering saga, Australian legend Adam Gilchrist has alleged that CA did not conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.

The former wicketkeeper-batsman said on SEN's Gilly and Goss podcast, as per a report by Fox Sports.

"Anyone would be naive to think people were not aware of what was going on about ball maintenance. I don’t think Cricket Australia wanted to go there. They did not want to go any deeper than that superficial example of ball-tampering. They did not investigate to see whether it was systemic, had it been going on and on and on. Around the cricketing globe, it was widely accepted a lot of teams were doing it,.’

"If anyone is in possession of new information in regards to the Cape Town Test of 2018 they should come forward and present it," Cricket Australia tonight. https://t.co/KCh9BOtUgH @FoxCricket

— Tom Morris (@tommorris32) May 15, 2021

The ball-tampering controversy stunned world cricket in March 2018 when Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera trying to alter the condition of the ball using a sandpaper during the Cape Town Test.