I don’t even think all our home International ODIs are on feee to air anymore
Cricket Season Thread
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Buttface
Well-known member
They are not. It’s BS.
(from news.com.au)
Usman Khawaja exposes sandpapergate lie to reveal truth about the scandal
Usman Khawaja has claimed the entire Australian team knew about the use of sandpaper in the 2018 tour of South Africa.
The batsman, who retired this year, also alleges sandpaper was first used during the second Test of the tour in Port Elizabeth, now known as Gqeberha, before TV cameras exposed the use of sandpaper during the third Test in Cape Town.
Khawaja’s version of events goes against the findings of the official investigation, which judged then captain Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft as the only guilty parties.
The trio were all given suspensions but Khawaja claims every member of the team was aware of the affair since discussions were held in the dressing room at St George’s Park about how to rough up the ball.
“It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us,” Khawaja told The Sydney Morning Herald.
Khawaja alleges that the use of sandpaper was picked as an effective method to rough up the ball in order to get it to reverse swing during the second Test in Port Elizabeth, before the infamous third Test
Smith is then understood to have backed away from discussions and said he did not want to know what was happening.
Bancroft, whom TV cameras discovered holding a piece of sandpaper, reportedly volunteered to carry out the roughing up, with Khawaja claiming his teammate spoke to a member of the coaching staff prior to his actions on the field.
In his soon to be released autobiography Sabr, Khawaja also details how he pleaded with his teammates to face the fallout of the sandpaper discovery as a team.
Usman Khawaja has claimed the entire Australian team knew about the use of sandpaper in the 2018 tour of South Africa.
The batsman, who retired this year, also alleges sandpaper was first used during the second Test of the tour in Port Elizabeth, now known as Gqeberha, before TV cameras exposed the use of sandpaper during the third Test in Cape Town.
Khawaja’s version of events goes against the findings of the official investigation, which judged then captain Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft as the only guilty parties.
The trio were all given suspensions but Khawaja claims every member of the team was aware of the affair since discussions were held in the dressing room at St George’s Park about how to rough up the ball.
Usman Khawaja claims the entire Australian team held discussions about roughing up the ball in South Africa.
“It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us,” Khawaja told The Sydney Morning Herald.
Khawaja alleges that the use of sandpaper was picked as an effective method to rough up the ball in order to get it to reverse swing during the second Test in Port Elizabeth, before the infamous third Test
Smith is then understood to have backed away from discussions and said he did not want to know what was happening.
Bancroft, whom TV cameras discovered holding a piece of sandpaper, reportedly volunteered to carry out the roughing up, with Khawaja claiming his teammate spoke to a member of the coaching staff prior to his actions on the field.
In his soon to be released autobiography Sabr, Khawaja also details how he pleaded with his teammates to face the fallout of the sandpaper discovery as a team.
“In an ideal world, I don’t want to do this,” Khawaja says.
“I don’t want to be the one who comes out and talks about the truth. The issue is that I genuinely thought after eight years the truth would have been out by now.
“Maybe I thought Davey would have exposed it, or someone else would have talked about it more. I just didn’t think it was going to come down to this.
“But the longer it’s gone on for, and right from the very start, I’ve been on the train of collectively taking it.
“Even in the change rooms when I was talking to them after the game. I said, ‘Take this as a team’. We did this as a team. We knew what was going on, and we have to take it as a team, and so I was always of that stance.
“Obviously, it didn’t work that way, and those three guys got crucified.”
Bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood have always denied claims they were aware of the ball tampering or “a foreign substance” being used.
“We pride ourselves on our honesty. So it’s been disappointing to see that our integrity has been questioned by some journalists and past players in recent days in regard to the Cape Town Test of 2018,” the bowlers said in a 2021 statement.
“We have already answered questions many times on this issue, but we feel compelled to put the key facts on the record again.
”We did not know a foreign substance was taken onto the field to alter the condition of the ball until we saw the images on the big screen at Newlands.
“And to those who, despite the absence of evidence, insist that ‘we must have known’ about the use of a foreign substance simply because we are bowlers, we say this:
“The umpires during that Test match, Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth, both very respected and experienced umpires, inspected the ball after the images surfaced on the TV coverage and did not change it because there was no sign of damage.”
Smith and Warner were banned for 12 months while Bancroft copped a nine month ban. Khawaja believes they deserve “justice”, with the batsman praising his childhood friend Warner for staying quiet despite being heavily criticised for his role in the scandal.
“I’ve seen Davey over the last eight years just get nailed bad over and over again, and it’s taken a big man not to say anything and just to stay quiet,” he adds.
“And he’s just copped it and he’s copped it and he’s copped it.
“And then ‘Bangers’ [Bancroft] in the same note, particularly, he played a little bit of Test cricket after that, but then never came back in, even though he’s been scoring a lot of runs. “He’s been a terrific cricketer for a long time, but I know it’s something that hangs over his head.
“Even Steve Smith. Steve’s lucky, the greatest batsman of my generation.
“He came back from that, and he’s come back as good as he ever was in that first Ashes series, and it’s kind of been forgotten for him in some respects. But I know he has never ever forgotten that year and how it all panned out.
“But I’m not doing this for any other reason than I think it’s the right thing to do,” adds Khawaja. “I’ve always felt like there’s more to life than just cricket, and these guys, in some respect, deserve that justice.
“And it just doesn’t feel like anyone’s going to give it to them. None of those three want to be the first to say anything. And rightly so, it will just be hearsay and ‘their word’ if they do. They needed someone else to say something.”
In September Warner hinted there is “potentially” more left to uncover regarding the scandal, but remained coy on what he was alluding to.
Then he recently replied to a Code Sports Instagram post which called for “full disclosure by the ACB (Australian Cricket Board) including transparency of the investigation report. When and who obtained and used sandpaper; every person involved directly and indirectly ought to be out in the open”.
In response, Warner said: “When this happens please do let me know as well.”
Former Australian cricketer and coach Justin Langer also addressed the scandal recently, sticking up for Smith, Warner and Bancroft.
“Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft not only took the fall for the Australian cricket team, they also took it for cricketers around the world,” Langer said.
“What I mean by that the ball has not reverse swung anywhere in the world since that day.
“Including both teams in the first two Test matches the ball hasn’t reverse swung. Simple.”
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happy_tiger
Well-known member
The Saffas were getting it to reverse during the last series .....
Buttface
Well-known member
Yeah but it’s not as prolific as it was before everyone was worried about getting caught for ball tampering.
It will start up again it’s part of cricket.
happy_tiger
Well-known member
Yeah always had me thinking what Waqar and Wasim were doing to the ball ....
