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On March 24, 2018, the Australian team suffered one of its most shameful days in history.

The cheating scandal came to be known as Sandpapergate, and in the days and months that followed, Cameron Bancroft, David Warner, and Steve Smith all received bans.

As the story goes, the rest of the team was somehow unaware of the cheating going on around them, including the bowling attack, which consisted of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and Nathan Lyon.

Quick bowlers are known to forensically examine the ball each time it’s thrown back to them, as they stroll towards the top of their run-up, but sure, they were not involved in the slightest.

Well, it looks like the cracks in that story are finally beginning to appear, after Bancroft, who has probably grown very tired of being thrown under the bus, spoke out over the weekend,

In conversation with The Guardian’s Donald McRae, this exchange was very telling:

At least some of the bowlers, surely, knew what he was doing?

There is a long pause before Bancroft answers: “Yeah, look, all I wanted to do was to be responsible and accountable for my own actions and part. Yeah, obviously what I did benefits bowlers and the awareness around that, probably, is self-explanatory. I guess one thing I learnt through the journey and being responsible is that’s where the buck stops [with Bancroft himself]. Had I had better awareness I would have made a much better decision.”

I ask the question again. So some of the bowlers did know?

Bancroft’s hesitation is even longer. “Uh … yeah, look, I think, yeah, I think it’s pretty probably self-explanatory.”

This goes against everything that has been said so far, including the findings from Cricket Australia’s investigation, which stated that “prior knowledge of the incident was confined to three players, Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft”.

The rest of the team have consistently denied any knowledge of the cheating that was going on.

Coach Darren Lehmann also stepped down in shame after the test series, and the then-Australian bowling coach, David Saker, left his post in 2019.

When questioned about Bancroft’s recent statements, Saker also let on that the full story has yet to come out in public.

Here’s The Sydney Morning Herald:

“Obviously a lot of things went wrong at that time. The finger-pointing is going to go on and on and on,” Saker [below] told The Age and Sydney Morning Herald on Sunday.

“There was a lot of people to blame. It could have been me to blame, it could have been someone else. It could have been stopped and it wasn’t, which is unfortunate.

“Cameron’s a very nice guy. He’s just doing it to get something off his chest … He’s not going to be the last.

“You could point your finger at me, you could point your finger at Boof (then coach Darren Lehmann), could you point it at other people, of course you could.

“The disappointing thing is it’s never going to go away. Regardless of what’s said. We all know that we made a monumental mistake. The gravity wasn’t as plain until it all came out.”

So it’s gone from three guys, and three guys only, to “we all know that we made a monumental mistake”, and “there was a lot of people to blame”?

What happened to that ‘elite honesty’ stuff the Ozzies went on and on about, during the public relations exercise that was Amazon’s The Test?

Let’s not forget that the same Ozzie team tried to ping the Proteas for ball-tampering in the very next test match after Newlands, and that umpires in that series had suspected the men from Down Under were cheating even before SuperSport’s infamous footage of Bancroft shoving the sandpaper down his pants.

Yes, it has been more than three years, but developments over the past few days suggest that the Ozzie team has never been honest about the extent of who knew about the cheating, and that is worth a closer look.

In response, Cricket Australia (CA) said it was open to any new information relating to the incident, but also covered its tracks:

“CA has maintained all along that if anyone is in possession of new information in regards to the Cape Town Test of 2018 they should come forward and present it,” CA said.

“The investigation conducted at the time was detailed and comprehensive. Since then, no one has presented new information to CA that casts doubt on the investigation’s findings.”

Other than Bancroft.

Oh, and Saker, the bowling coach at the time.

With 36-year-old skipper Tim Paine looking set to bow out of test cricket in the near future, there have been renewed calls for Steve Smith to once again be given the captaincy.

Perhaps, before that happens, the events leading up to that day in Cape Town, and what followed, need to be revisited.

Steve Smith has paid his dues and served his suspension, but what about the other members of that team?

According to David Warner’s manager, James Erskine, the fiery opening batsman won’t stay silent forever, hinting that “his client will detail the full story in a tell-all autobiography when he retires”.

Yes, spill those beans.

More from The Brisbane Times:

Erskine said on Monday: “The report that was done, they didn’t interview all the players. The whole thing was so badly handled, it was a joke

“But eventually the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, will come out and I know the whole truth.”

Former Australian captain Michael Clarke also laughed off suggestions that it was only Warner, Smith, and Bancroft who knew what was going on:

“If you are playing sport at the highest level you know your tools that good it’s not funny,” Clarke said. “Can you imagine that ball being thrown back to the bowler and the bowler not knowing about it?

“Please…I don’t think anybody is surprised that more than three people knew about it.”

A change of tune from many Australians, then, who were happy to let those three take the blame as the rest escaped punishment.

Let’s not forget that Cricket Australia also cancelled a tour to our shores earlier this year, citing COVID-19 fears, yet the governing body was all too happy to let Australia’s players head to India for the IPL.

The sooner somebody like Warner retires and really lets loose with the truth, the better.

[sources:guardian&smh&bristimes]