Nathan Lyon reveals being collateral damage of infamous Sandpaper-gate scandal

The summer of 2018 shook Australian cricket when captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were found guilty of the infamous Sandpaper-gate scandal. Notably, in the third Test against South Africa in Newlands, youngster Cameron Bancroft was spotted attempting to rough up the ball by rubbing sandpaper over it. He was immediately summoned by the on-field umpires and it led to him getting banned for nine months and the Smith and Warner for 12.

The scandal led to a change in leadership as Tim Paine was appointed as new captain while Justin Langer was roped in as head coach. Amid all this, the story of Nathan Lyon picking up his 300th Test cricket got lost. In that game, the spin wizard dismissed Kagiso Rabada, which was his 300th wicket in the format but he was not handed the ball as ICC confiscated it.

“(Kagiso) Rabada stumped was my 300th wicket. It was at the Cape Town Test. I haven't seen that ball since, unfortunately. Yeah, I think with everything that happened that game, they took it to have a look at it all,” Lyon told News Corp ahead of the upcoming edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Referee Boon tried finding milestone ball for Lyon

The veteran Australia spinner also revealed that he tried to find the ball and asked the ICC match referee David Boon to help him but it didn’t work out. Lyon added that Boon tried to find information but added that no one quite knows about the whereabouts of the ball.

“I bumped into him on the balcony of the team hotel in the Covid summer of 2020-21 and being an ICC match referee he reached out to them (the ICC) through his work and tried to find it, and apparently it's gone missing, Don't know where it is. There's been no more correspondence. It is what it is,” Lyon mentioned. 

Nathan Lyon also revealed that he has a collection of all the special milestones in his career. From his first wicket in the Big Bash League to his first five-wicket haul on his Test debut to all other key moments. Only the 300th wicket space remains empty still.