Bancroft, Warner and Smith 'treated despicably' in sandpaper scandal
Australia’s sandpaper gate trio were ‘treated despicably’, claims David Warner’s agent as he insists ‘the truth WILL out’ as 2018 scandal rears its head after Cameron Bancroft’s suggestion that bowlers DID know what was going on
- David Warner’s agent has hit out at Cricket Australia’s probe into sandpapergate
- Three Aussie stars were banned following the ball tampering scandal in 2018
- However, Cameron Bancroft has implied that more players were aware of it
- Cricket Australia has demanded ‘new information’ from the Aussie opener
- And Warner’s agent said the initial probe was ‘so badly handled’ and ‘a joke’
David Warner’s agent has claimed that the three Australian players involved in ‘Sandpaper gate’ were ‘treated despicably’ after the scandal reared its head again following comments from Cameron Bancroft.
The former Aussie opener, who was banned for scuffing that ball with a piece of sandpaper during the third test against South Africa in Cape Town in March 2018, lit the fuse last week with a cryptic comment in a newspaper interview.
The 28-year-old suggested that responsibility for the affair that rocked world cricket might run deeper than the three players – himself, Warner and Steve Smith – punished for it.
David Warner’s agent has hit out at Cricket Australia’s initial probe into ‘sandpapergate’
World cricket was rocked in 2018 after Cameron Bancroft was seen tampering with the ball
‘Obviously what I did benefits bowlers and the awareness around that, probably, is self-explanatory,’ the batsman told the Guardian.
Cricket Australia have issued a request to Bancroft for any ‘new’ information he might have but the idea that other players would have been aware what was going on at Newlands has found fertile ground in the Australian media.
CA conducted an investigation into the incident in 2018 and banned Bancroft for nine months, while former captain Smith and vice-captain Warner were suspended for a year.
Warner (R), Bancroft and Steve Smith (L) were served with bans for their role in the scandal
However, Bancroft has suggested that more players were aware of the scandal at the time
Warner was cast as the ringleader of the operation in Cricket Australia’s report, but his agent, James Erskine, has now said the three punished players were ‘treated despicably’.
‘The report that was done, they didn’t interview all the players. The whole thing was so badly handled, it was a joke,’ he told The Age newspaper.
‘But eventually the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, will come out and I know the whole truth.’
Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has heaped pressure on Cricket Australia to dig further into the scandal and was incredulous at the suggestion that the Australian bowlers would not have known that the ball had been tampered with.
‘If you are playing sport at the highest level you know your tools that good it’s not funny,’ he said on the Sky Sports Radio show he hosts.
And Warner’s agent said that the three players were ‘treated so badly’ by Cricket Australia
James Erskine says the ‘ truth will come out’ as Cricket Australia demands ‘new information’
‘Can you imagine that ball being thrown back to the bowler and the bowler not knowing about it? Please.’
Smith and Warner, who unlike Bancroft have re-established themselves in the test side since their bans, returned to Sydney from the Indian Premier League via Maldives on Monday to start two weeks of quarantine.
The Age reported on Tuesday that Bancroft, who is playing county cricket in England, had already replied to CA saying he had no new information about the scandal.
David Saker, Australia’s bowling coach at the time of the scandal, said the ‘finger-pointing’ was unlikely to cease any time soon.
‘Cameron is a very nice guy, he’s just doing it to get something off his chest,’ he told The Age.
‘He’s not going to be the last.’
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