The Newlands sandpaper gate saga has breathed a new lease of life after the Australian batsman Cameron Bancroft talked about the awareness of the same elsewhere, hinting at the involvement of the bowlers as well. The then five-pronged bowling attack included the likes of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, apart from the all-rounder Mitchell Marsh.
The four main bowlers have issued a statement with regards to their stand on the same issue, clarifying that they didn't know that a foreign substance was taken onto the field to apply on the ball to help it move for a little more time.
In the statement, the bowlers in a joint statement addressing the Australian public said, "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."
They said that they have answered several questions about the same but they are compelled to do so after the recent turn of events, putting the key facts across.
"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.'
However, they mentioned that whatever happened on the field was wrong and should never have happened and they have learned their valuable lessons from the same.
"We respectfully request an end to the rumour-mongering and innuendo. It has gone on too long and it is time to move on," they signed off.
A few days ago, Bancroft talking to The Guardian spoke about the awareness of foreign material being used was elsewhere as well and said, "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."
Since then Cricket Australia has jumped into action, many experts have chipped in with their views, Bancroft has back-tracked and the bowlers along with the media and everyone in cricketing fraternity is hoping for it to stop once and for all.
