[ad_1]
SYDNEY: Tim Paine accused South Africa of blatant ball-tampering just days after Australian cricket was rocked by the 2018 sandpaper gate scandal, which claims it was covered up by the match broadcaster.
The former Australian captain made the cheating claims in his new autobiography released on Tuesday and widely reported by Australian media.
He wrote that South Africa had picked at the seams in the Test that followed the now infamous Cape Town one where TV cameras caught it. Australia‘s Cameron Bancroft hides sandpaper in his pants after appearing to use it on the ball.
In the South African case, Paine claimed the host broadcaster “immediately pulled the shot off the screen” and the footage “disappeared”.
“I saw it happen in the fourth test of that series,” he wrote, referring to the match in Johannesburg which the Proteas won by 492 runs.
“Think about it. After everything that happened in Cape Town, after all the headlines and bans and carry on.
“In the next Test I was standing at the bowlers’ point when a shot appeared on the screen of a South African player in the middle of the game who had a big crack on the ball.
“The television director, who played an active role in taking out Cam (Bancroft), immediately took the shot off the screen.
“We went to the umpires about it, which might look a bit weak, but we were gutted and were convinced they were up to it since the first Test. But the footage was lost. As it would.”
The Bancroft scandal sent shockwaves through Australian cricket, with the batsman, along with captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner, sent home in disgrace.
Warner and Smith were both slapped with one-year bans for their role, while Bancroft was given nine months.
In the book, Paine claimed that ball-tampering was common in cricket, but conceded that the use of sandpaper was “next level” and “disgraceful”.
But he denied any suggestion of a team meeting planning what Bancroft did, saying his heart sank when replays showed what happened.
“A sense of dread came over us all,” he said, adding that he regretted that more support had not been offered to Smith, Warner and Bancroft in the fallout from the rest of the team.
“Would it have worked out better for those three players if we owned it as a team? I think it would,” he said.
The former Australian captain made the cheating claims in his new autobiography released on Tuesday and widely reported by Australian media.
He wrote that South Africa had picked at the seams in the Test that followed the now infamous Cape Town one where TV cameras caught it. Australia‘s Cameron Bancroft hides sandpaper in his pants after appearing to use it on the ball.
In the South African case, Paine claimed the host broadcaster “immediately pulled the shot off the screen” and the footage “disappeared”.
“I saw it happen in the fourth test of that series,” he wrote, referring to the match in Johannesburg which the Proteas won by 492 runs.
“Think about it. After everything that happened in Cape Town, after all the headlines and bans and carry on.
“In the next Test I was standing at the bowlers’ point when a shot appeared on the screen of a South African player in the middle of the game who had a big crack on the ball.
“The television director, who played an active role in taking out Cam (Bancroft), immediately took the shot off the screen.
“We went to the umpires about it, which might look a bit weak, but we were gutted and were convinced they were up to it since the first Test. But the footage was lost. As it would.”
The Bancroft scandal sent shockwaves through Australian cricket, with the batsman, along with captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner, sent home in disgrace.
Warner and Smith were both slapped with one-year bans for their role, while Bancroft was given nine months.
In the book, Paine claimed that ball-tampering was common in cricket, but conceded that the use of sandpaper was “next level” and “disgraceful”.
But he denied any suggestion of a team meeting planning what Bancroft did, saying his heart sank when replays showed what happened.
“A sense of dread came over us all,” he said, adding that he regretted that more support had not been offered to Smith, Warner and Bancroft in the fallout from the rest of the team.
“Would it have worked out better for those three players if we owned it as a team? I think it would,” he said.
[ad_2]
Source link
