After a promising stretch of cricket, the Australia cricket team arrived in South Africa to begin the Test series, in what promised to be a series of worthy and exciting matches. However, during the third Test on the 25 March, Cameron Bancroft, 25, fielder and opening batsman for Australia, was caught tampering with the ball, sending the reputation of the Australian side spiraling into disrepute.
Bancroft was caught on camera trying to tamper with the ball using sandpaper, which he originally claimed was tape. What followed was what many consider to be an overreaction to the offense, with Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne telling Sydney’s Daily Telegraph that “the jump to hysteria is something that has elevated the offence beyond what they actually did,” and that “we’re at a point where the punishment just might not fit the crime.” Both the captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner received year-long bans from professional cricket, and Bancroft received nine months. Coach Darren Lehmann also announced that he will be stepping down after the final Test against South Africa in Johannesburg.
In a news conference in Sydney, Smith issued an emotional apology for the ball-tampering scandal, claiming “a failure of [his] leadership” allowed the ball-tampering to happen and that he is deeply sorry for the event and for “the pain I have brought to Australia and the fans and the public.” This speech, in which he broke down into tears, gained him a wave of sympathy from the Australian public, but prompted an article from The Times titled, “Dear Australia, that’s enough now: this was ball-tampering not murder”.
Others involved have also expressed their shame in their actions, with Bancroft telling Australian media that
“It’s something I will regret for the rest of my life. I feel like I’ve let everyone down in Australia.”
Warner, who has been banned from assuming any leadership positions in the future as the investigation found that he instructed Bancroft how to carry out the ball-tampering, spoke vehemently against any form of ball-tampering in the past. After South African skipper Faf du Plessis was found guilty of ball-tampering by changing the condition of the ball with mints that he was sucking on, Warner publicly stated that he “would be very disappointed if one of our team members did that.” He also added that “the rules are in place for a reason, if you’re not going to use them then why bother having them”.
The Weekly Muse 