CRICKET HISTORY: SANDPAPERGATE

 

Today is the first instalment of cricket history and iam going to cover quite a infamous event, Sandpapergate. 

For those of you that don't know Sandpapergate was a ball tampering incident that involved Cameron Bancroft, Captain Steve Smith and David Warner. During a test match against South Africa in March of 2018, Cameron Bancroft was caught rubbing the match ball with a small yellow object. He was then seen stuffing said object into his trousers, when approached by the umpire he pulled out a dark microfiber sunglass pouch from his pocket. The umpires inspected the ball and concluded that it had not been noticeably tampered with.

At the press conference at the end of the days play Bancroft, accompanied by Captain Steve Smith admitted that he was caught attempting to alter the condition of the ball using a short length of adhesive tape to which dirt and grit has adhered, forming and abrasive surface. 

Five days later, after an investigation by Cricket Australia, Bancroft admitted it was sandpaper hence the name Sandpapergate. After admitting to the ball tampering, Smith and Warner were swiftly removed from their respective captaincy roles before being sent home from South Africa alongside Bancroft. Once back in Australia, they appeared in a press conference and showed their clear emotion surrounding the incident with smith crying as he made this statement. 

"To fans of cricket all over the world and to all Australians who are disappointed and angry: I'm sorry." " I want to make it clear as captain of the Australian cricket team I take full responsibility. I made a serious error of judgment and I now understand the consequences." "It was a failure of leadership, of my leadership," 

Warner and Smith were given 12-month bans from Cricket Australia as well as the IPL. While Bancroft was handed a nine-month suspension. Warner was responsible for initiating the plan and was told told that he could never have a position of leadership again. Smith faced the same response and could never be eligible for a leadership role having known about the plan but deciding not to prevent it. 

Bancroft received a shorter ban but ended up losing more. He lost his deal with county side Somerset after they pulled out of the contract agreement they had previously made with him.