Cricket has seen its fair share of controversies all these years. From heated arguments on the field to incidents that have questioned the spirit of the game, there’s never been a shortage of drama.
But some controversies leave a mark that lasts for years. The Sandpapergate ball-tampering scandal is one of them. It happened in the 2018 South Africa vs Australia Test series.
So what exactly is the Sandpapergate scandal? Who was involved? And why did the scandal shake Australian cricket so badly?
But before that…
What happened in the 2018 South Africa vs Australia Test series?
The series was already a tough one. Australia won the first Test, South Africa bounced back in the second and tensions between the two teams had risen after several heated exchanges on the field.
By the third Test, the contest had become fierce. Australia were under pressure, while South Africa were in a strong position on the third day.
At lunch, South Africa were 65/1 and had a lead of 121 runs. A couple of big partnerships here and Australia would have been in trouble.
So the visitors needed wickets. And they cooked up a plan in the lunch break that would change the Australian cricket.
So what exactly happened in the Cape Town Test?
In the lunch break, Australia’s leadership group came up with a plan to change the condition of the ball, albeit illegally. Cameron Bancroft was given the task of carrying it out.
During the play, cameras caught Bancroft handling a small yellow object and rubbing it against the ball. It was a piece of sandpaper. That’s why the whole incident is known as the Sandpapergate ball-tampering scandal.
So when Bancroft realised the cameras had spotted him, he tried to hide the object inside his trousers.
The footage was even shown on the big screen at the ground. And the incident quickly became the talking point of the day.
The on-field umpires, Richard Illingworth and Nigel Llong, questioned Bancroft about his actions and inspected the ball. They decided not to replace it because they could not see clear evidence that its condition had changed.
But the footage had already raised serious questions. What was Bancroft trying to do? And who else knew about it?
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But why were Australia trying to tamper with the ball?
To understand the incident, you need to understand reverse swing.
As a cricket ball gets older, its two sides develop different conditions. Under the right circumstances, a fast bowler can make the ball move in the air towards or away from the batter, even late in its flight. This is known as reverse swing.
It can be a nightmare for batters, especially when the ball moves late at high speed.
The problem was that players are not allowed to use foreign objects to change the ball’s condition deliberately. That gives the bowling side an unfair advantage and goes against the laws and spirit of the game.
Australia’s plan was to rough up the ball to help produce reverse swing. The plan did not work as intended. Instead, it created more trouble for them.
Who was involved in the Sandpapergate scandal? And what consequences did they face?
Three players were at the centre of the Sandpapergate scandal. While Bancroft executed the plan, David Waner was the main guy behind the plan and captain Steven Smith knew about it.
Since Smith didn’t stop Bancroft from executing the plan, he faced a 12-month ban from Cricket Australia (CA). The board also handed a 12-month ban to Warner, along with a lifetime leadership ban. Bancroft, meanwhile, was barred from professional cricket for nine months.
Smith and Warner also faced a ban in IPL 2018, while Bancroft lost his County Championship deal with Somerset.
The punishments were severe, but the damage to the team’s reputation was already done.
What began as an attempt to gain an advantage in a Test match became a controversy that would follow Australian cricket for years.
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