Steve Smith accepts the team leadership knew about the Sandpaper Gate

The Newlands Test was all heated up with both the teams putting in everything from performance to verbal volleys into play to edge ahead. But the match drew attention from the world over once Cameron Bancroft was shown on the big screen rubbing sandpaper on the ball to rough up one side.

He soon put it back in his pocket and from there into his underpants but he wasn’t going to get away with it. There was a tea break immediately after and an analysis of the footage clearly suggested that not just Bancroft but the head coach Darren Lehmann knew about it as well. Once the incident was telecast he passed on a message and the player hid the piece of paper.

The umpires didn’t take any immediate action i.e. change the ball and award the batting team five runs as per the ball tampering rules. However, the topic caught fire on social media and former cricketers were full of criticism.

Smith’s confession

Who would come out to talk in the post-match press conference was the most speculated question. Skipper Steve Smith and Bancroft both walked out to clarify their stand. Smith owned the responsibility and accepted the mistake, he mentioned that it was a decision made by the team leadership but the coaching staff had nothing to do with it.

“The leadership group (I’m not naming names) knew about it. We spoke about it and thought it was a possible way to get an advantage. The coaches weren’t involved. It was purely the players,” Smith said.

He also added that something of this sort has happened for this first time under his leadership and also assured that it will never happen again. “It won’t happen again,” the Australian skipper added.

“I can promise you this is the first time this has happened, hopefully we can learn something from this. I’m embarrassed, the boys in the shed are embarrassed. It’s a poor reflection on everyone in that dressing room. If we weren’t caught, I’d still feel bad about it,” he further said.

Bancroft charged with ball tampering

Bancroft on his part mentioned that he chose to come in front of the media to accept his wrong doings. He said: “I want to be here because I’m accountable for my actions. I’ve got to live with the consequences and the damage to my reputation. We just had discussions with the match officials. I’ve been charged with attempting to change the condition of the ball.”

He confirmed that it was a yellow tape and stated, “Once I was sighted on the big screens I panicked quite a lot.”

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