Bancroft 'keen to move on' from sandpaper gate as scandal draws fresh attention
New Delhi, Nov 8
Western Australia coach Beau Casson said batter Cameron Bancroft is "keen to move on" from the sandpaper gate and "let his bat do the talking" as the scandal has returned to the headlines.
Former Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja recently made claims that the entire Australian team knew of the use of the sandpaper on the ball during the Cape Town Test in South Africa in 2-18.
As reported by Nine newspapers, the sandpaper was also discussed and used during the previous Test in Gqeberha too, and Bancroft had volunteered to use the object during the first innings of that Test.
Bancroft turned out for Western Australia's one-dayer against England at WACA on Saturday, which WA lost by 92 runs. Speaking after the match, WA coach Casson spoke about Bancroft and the scandal making headlines once more.
"The situation's a long time ago. I think he's keen to move on and let his bat do the talking," Casson told reporters after the match, as quoted by Cricinfo. "You can't control everything. The way he's handled it, over the past couple of weeks, and over the years gone by, it speaks volumes of the way he's done that.
"He certainly sets the example of how to go about being a professional cricketer."
Bancroft was at the centre of the scandal as cameras clearly showed him tampering with the ball with the object during the Cape Town Test.
Bancroft was handed a nine-month ban from international and domestic cricket for his role, while the then captain Steve Smith and then vice-captain David Warner were also hit with one-year bans. Warner was also handed a lifetime leadership ban, which was later lifted in 2024, while Smith was handed a 12-month leadership ban too.
While Smith and Warner found second wings to their careers after the scandal, Bancroft's Test career was on the fringes, and he seems to be out of the reckoning in the Test team for now.
It remains unclear whether he will address Khawaja's claims, which he will be detailing in his book 'Sabar', he has mostly made peace with not being in the reckoning of a Test revival, as his form has been patchy in the domestic circuit ever since the BGT 2024-25.
"I'm definitely not as feverish now about my opportunities to play at that level," Bancroft told ABC Grandstand last week.
"I'm fully accepting of the fact that the likelihood is that I won't play at that level again. If an opportunity came I'd be very grateful and I'd take it, but I'm at peace with playing at the level and the opportunity I had there."
— IANS
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