Australian bowlers plead innocence via statement after Bancroft’s “self-explanatory” remark 

Famed Australian quartet – Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon – on Tuesday (May 18) issued a statement, pleading innocence after being claimed to have known of the illegal use of sandpaper in the 2018 Cape Town ball-tampering incident. 

Through their statement, the chief members of Australia’s attack in Newlands responded strongly to the question marks raised on their integrity amidst wider public after the controversial remarks from Cameron Bancroft. 

Bancroft, in an interview with the Guardian, said it’s “self-explanatory” that the bowling unit was just as aware of the ill-suggested ploy of trying to alter the ball’s condition in the third Test of the 2018 series in South Africa as was he, the then captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner. 

However, Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon completely denied that accusation, reiterating that they weren’t at all aware of a foreign substance being taken on the field and brought into play illegally. 

Australian bowlers plead innocence via statement after Bancroft’s “self-explanatory” remark

“We pride ourselves on our honesty. So it’s been disappointing to see that our integrity has been questioned by some journalists and past players in recent days in regard to the Cape Town Test of 2018,” the statement read. 

“We have already answered questions many times on this issue, but we feel compelled to put the key facts on the record again:

• We did not know a foreign substance was taken onto the field to alter the condition of the ball until we saw the images on the big screen at Newlands
• And to those who, despite the absence of evidence, insist that ‘we must have known’ about the use of a foreign substance simply because we are bowlers, we say this: The umpires during that Test match, Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth, both very respected and experienced umpires, inspected the ball after the images surfaced on the TV coverage and did not change it because there was no sign of damage.

“None of this excuses what happened on the field that day at Newlands. It was wrong and it should never have happened.”

“We’ve all learned valuable lessons and we’d like to think the public can see a change for the better in terms of the way we play, the way we behave and respect the game. Our commitment to improving as people and players will continue.”

“We respectfully request an end to the rumour-mongering and innuendo. It has gone on too long and it is time to move on.”

Words from Cummins, who has emerged as a potential next captain for Australia, and his bowling partners are pertinent here since CA stated following Bancroft’s revelation that it is willing to re-open investigation in the whole ball-tampering fiasco. 

In a year where Australia are due to play the T20 World Cup and host England for an Ashes, they could ill-afford to have their main bowling attack under scrutiny. Also, CA’s interim CEO Nick Hockley confirmed that they did reach out to Bancroft after his comments, but the player has no new evidence to present. 

“Our integrity unit reached out to Cam off the back of the media report and asked him directly whether he had any new information since the original investigation, and he’s come back and confirmed overnight that he has no new information,” Hockley told cricket.com.au. “So we thank Cam for confirming that.”