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'Will be interesting when David Warner stops playing for Australia and writes a book': Stuart Broad on Sandpapergate
Speaking on the subject, Broad said that if he misses a seam by four millimetres, his partner James Anderson is quick to tell him that he is missing the seam, suggesting that bowlers in the team are well aware of the condition of the ball and have to look after it.
England pacer Stuart Broad believes that more information regarding the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal will be revealed when the protagonists David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft retire from Cricket Australia. The ball-tampering scandal involving the three cricketers once again came into the limelight after Bancroft, in a recent interview with The Guardian, hinted that Aussie bowlers might have known about the incident.
According to reports, Cricket Australia's (CA) Integrity team has reached out to Bancroft to see if he has more information to give on the issue, but a response from Bancroft is still awaited.
Speaking on the subject, Broad said that if he misses a seam by four millimetres, his partner James Anderson is quick to tell him that he is missing the seam, suggesting that bowlers in the team are well aware of the condition of the ball and have to look after it.
"I've obviously never bowled within the Australian bowling attack but I can talk about how, in an England Test team, if I miss the seam by four millimetres, Jimmy Anderson is on me. He'll be saying why has this ball got a mark on it here? It's because you've missed the seam! Start hitting the seam, will you," Broad said at a Lifebuoy event in the UK, as reported by ESPNCricinfo.
"Reverse swing with the red ball can be affected by so many different things. If you chase it to the boundary and throw it into the grass it can smooth the ball over and stop it reversing. If you touch the ball with wet hands it will stop it reversing. If you shine it in a way that smooths over the rough side it will stop it reversing," he added.
Further elaborating on his point, Broad said: "So as an England team, we are aware if we're trying to get the ball reversing every player has to buy into that or it will stop it. There's no doubt the Aussies would have been hoping this episode was signed sealed and delivered. It was an incredibly tough thing for those three players to go through. I can't see it still being a conversation when the Ashes start in November, December, but I can see it being sung in the Barmy Army stands if they're allowed."
"I have seen a couple of comments from David Warner's agent, too, and I think it will be an interesting time when he stops playing for Australia and writes a book," he signed off.
In March 2018, Bancroft was caught on camera trying to change the condition of the ball using sandpaper in a Test match against South Africa in Cape Town. The incident later went on to be labelled as the 'Sandpaper Gate' and is considered as one of the darkest moments in the history of Australian cricket.
