Ball tampering incident in Newlands

#SANDPAPERGATE

The Gentleman's Game came under the spotlight of the sporting world, due to the happenings that unfolded in the 3rd Test between South Africa and Australia at the Newlands. This is not the first time in the history of cricket,  that such a ball tampering incident has taken place, but the aftermath caused by this event has shook the cricketing world. As a result , the trio of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft are facing an uncertain cricketing future and will not be donning the prestigious green baggy jerseys for some time.

It all started when the Australian player Cameron Bancroft was caught by the match officials, doing something suspicious in the field of play. He, along with the Aussie captain Steve Smith were enquired by the on-field umpires. At that point in time, it looked like it was just a formal talk among them. But the cameras told a different story altogether. Bancroft was seen trying to hide some ‘yellow thing’ under his trousers.  Further investigation on the match videos exposed something shocking. He was rubbing that ‘yellow thing’ against the rough side of the ball to get some more swing while the fast bowlers were operating. In a surprising turn of events, Fanie de Villiers, one of the member of the commentary crew was the one who instructed the broadcasters to cover the player whom he suspected. Eventually after about one and half hours of coverage, the ball tampering attempt was confirmed.

Later that evening, the duo of Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft were present at the press conference to explain to the press and the people about the ball tampering incident. Both agreed that they were directly involved in this ugly incident and Steve Smith even went on to say that it was a “Predetermined” plan taken by the “Leadership Group” which was discussed at the Lunch interval of the 3^rd day of the Newlands test match.

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia Board jumped into a deep investigation about this ball tampering incident and finally came out with the truth that the ‘yellow thing’ carried by Cameron Bancroft was actually a sandpaper and not the sticky tape, which the Australian claimed to have used in the Test match during his statement made in the press conference a couple of days back. Also, it was eventually found that David Warner was the one behind the development of a plan to attempt to artificially alter the condition of the ball. Therefore, Cricket Australia had to make hard decisions against this trio and handed one year ban on Steve Smith and David Warner and 9 months ban on Cameron Bancroft. The following pictures show the actual charges laid against these players.

All 3 of them were sent back home and each individual did not fail to apologize for the stain that they made on their beloved game. Smith broke down while addressing the media after his return back to Sydney. He said, “To all of my teammates, to fans of Cricket all over the world and to all the Australians who are disappointed and angry. I’m Sorry”. Meanwhile, Warner was quoted saying, “It’s a stain on the game, I apologize for my part”. Bancroft also felt sorry on his part.

             

In the aftermath of this shameful incident, Australian Head Coach Darren Lehmann has decided to step down from his post after the final test between Australia and South Africa starting on Friday. “This will be my last test as Head Coach of the Australian Cricket team as I am stepping down. After seeing events in the media today with Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft, the feeling is that Australian Cricket needs to move forward and it is the right thing to do”, an emotional Lehmann said in a Press Conference.