David Warner told me how he accelerated the deterioration of the ball during a FC match: Alastair Cook

When it comes to knowing how Australian players behave on the field and what they do to win games, there are very few players who know it better than the England players. Both the teams are the oldest rivals in the game and give it their all to win the iconic Ashes.  Former England skipper Alastair Cook has now revealed some startling details about David Warner’s conduct on the field in his autobiography.

Having played as many as seven Ashes series, Cook is well familiar with the Australian culture and the players. The legendary batsman, in his book, has revealed Warner once ended up telling him how he used substances attached to the strapping on his hand to change the condition of the ball during a first-class match. Warner could have perhaps ended up telling more had Steve Smith not intervened in time.

“David Warner, a couple of beers into his celebration, mentioned that he used substances attached to the strapping on his hand to accelerate the deterioration of the ball during a first-class match. I looked at Steve Smith who shot a glance that said: ‘Ooh, you shouldn’t have said that,” wrote Alastair Cook while he recalled the players sharing beers after the 2017-18 Ashes.

Well, Warner and Smith did land in trouble after being caught red-handed trying to tamper with the ball in the Cape Town Test last year. Both the players received a one-year ban and made their comeback to Tests in the ongoing Ashes.

Cook on sandpaper gate

Alastair Cook further said that Australian players went too far to maintain their culture of ‘win at all cost’. While he did not accuse them of cheating directly but subtly made his intentions clear.

“Stuart Broad sums it up pretty well and says they got the ball to reverse swing in that Ashes. Why change what you’ve been doing? Why suddenly use sandpaper? People know what was going on. But it’s been the best thing for Australian cricket because they realised it wasn’t acceptable. The win-at-all-costs culture they created isn’t what the Australian public needed or wanted. They’d gone too far,” Cook was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

Since the ball-tampering scandal, Australia have ditched their win-at-all-cost culture in order to win back the fans. Current coach Justin Langer has changed the dressing room culture which has seen the Australian players mellow down on the field in recent times.

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