Melbourne: Banned Australian player Cameron Bancroft on Wednesday made a statement that David Warner had asked him to tamper with the ball.
A Cricket Australia investigation pointed to Warner as the mastermind. Bancroft had a one-on-one interview with former Australian wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist on Fox Sports. He made some important revelation here.
“Dave suggested to me to carry the action out on the ball given the situation we were in the game and I didn’t know any better,” said Bancroft, whose ban runs out this weekend.
“I didn’t know any better because I just wanted to fit in and feel valued really. As simple as that.”
“The decision was based around my values, what I valued at the time, and I valued fitting in … you hope that fitting in earns you respect and with that, I guess, there came a pretty big cost for the mistake.”
Bancroft also added that he didn’t feel like a victim and he made the decision to tamper the ball after much brainstorming; albeit an extremely wrong one.
Last week Smith had opened up about the entire incident and recanted how he had failed as a leader. He admitted turning blind eye to the happenings so that his team could go on to win the match. Their defeat against South Africa in Hobart in 2016 was their fifth loss in a row.
Sandpaper Gate Controversy-Origin
Bancroft with Captain Steve Smith and Vice-captain Warner were involved in infamous ‘Sandpaper Gate’ controversy. Bancroft had tampered with the ball during and after the third Test match against South Africa in Cape Town.
Cricket Australia (CA) had found all three of them guilty of ball tampering. CA had exiled Smith and Warner for a year and to Bancroft for nine-months.
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