In an interview with The Guardian, Cameron Bancroft was asked if Australia's bowlers were aware of plans to alter the condition of the ball; the batsman said it was "pretty self-explanatory"; Cricket Australia has formally contacted Bancroft for "any new information"
Monday 17 May 2021 12:51, UK
Cricket Australia has formally contacted Cameron Bancroft seeking new information about the 2018 sandpaper scandal after an interview with the batsman placed the issue firmly back on the agenda.
Australian cricket was plunged into crisis by the incident in South Africa, which saw Bancroft receive a nine-month ban for tampering with the ball while captain Steve Smith and deputy David Warner were exiled for a year.
Head coach Darren Lehmann also resigned his post but no other team members were found to be complicit during an initial investigation, including the bowlers who would have benefited from the changed condition of the ball.
Speaking to The Guardian over the weekend, Bancroft was asked directly if the bowlers knew about his actions and twice said the answer was "pretty self-explanatory".
Now CA's integrity unit have written to him during his overseas stint at Durham, offering him the chance to shed fresh light on the controversy.
Ben Oliver, the executive general manager of national teams, told an online media conference: "We've maintained all the way through that if anyone has any new information relating to that incident, we encourage people to come forward and discuss that with Cricket Australia.
"In this case our integrity team have reached out to Cam, extending that invitation to him if he does have any new information...or to remind him if he does have any new information in addition to what his input was into the original investigation, there is an avenue for him to do that."
Australia great Adam Gilchrist has had his say on the matter via his radio show on SEN in Perth, suggesting fresh names will be implicated in the plot in time.
"I think there's a few people that have got it stored away and are ready to pull the trigger when the time is right," he said.
"I think anyone would be naïve to think that people weren't aware of what's going on about ball maintenance and I don't think CA wanted to go there."
