Starc denies knowledge of ball-tampering plot, Cricket Australia rules out new probe
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MELBOURNE, Nov 10 : Fast bowler Mitchell Starc denied on Tuesday any prior knowledge of Australia’s plot to tamper with the ball during the 2018 tour of South Africa, as Cricket Australia boss Todd Greenberg ruled out another investigation into ‘Sandpapergate’.
Starc is the first of Australia’s bowlers to respond to Usman Khawaja’s assertions in his autobiography and on social media that the whole team knew of a plan to manipulate the ball in order to get it to reverse swing.
Starc reiterated the bowlers’ position from a 2021 statement that they did not know a “foreign substance” had been taken onto the field to alter the condition of the ball.
“I haven’t really paid much attention to be fair, obviously there’s differing opinions of eight years ago,” Starc told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.
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“We were heavily drilled through the process at the time, and since and I guess I won’t speak on behalf of the bowlers, but where I stand, my opinion hasn’t changed. My recollection hasn’t changed from what we said in 2021.”
The scandal triggered an integrity probe by Cricket Australia (CA) and led to bans and other penalties for then-captain Steve Smith and former test openers David Warner and Cameron Bancroft four days after the incident came to light during the Cape Town test.
Khawaja said the team began tampering with the ball at the second test against South Africa in Gqeberha, not in the third at Cape Town where they were caught.
Starc said Khawaja’s account was the first time he was aware of ball-tampering taking place in Gqeberha.
“I’ll leave said authors to explain,” he said.
Warner, who retired from international cricket more than two years ago, broke his silence about the scandal on Monday to throw his support behind Khawaja.
In a video posted on social media, Warner described his former teammate’s account as 100 per cent accurate and the CA investigation as “botched” and “rushed”.
‘VERY DIFFERENT VIEWS’
Media pundits, including former captain Michael Clarke, have demanded CA re-investigate the case.
However, Greenberg told local radio station SEN on Tuesday there was “no compelling reason” to reopen the investigation and could not see anything to be gained from it.
He said players had “very different views” to Khawaja’s version of events.
“There are specific details in his book that contradict the versions that have been provided by others,” he said.
“But we have said we’re comfortable with the outcome of the investigation based on the information we’ve received.
“That includes what we’ve seen from Usman, and our position hasn’t changed on that.”
Former Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland, who was in charge of the governing body during the incident, declined to comment on Tuesday.
Bancroft, who played his last international in 2019, declined to comment to Australian media on Monday.
He said in a 2021 interview with the Guardian that it was “self-explanatory” that teammates apart from Smith and Warner were aware of the ball-tampering plan.
Captain Pat Cummins said in South Africa last month that he had spoken to Khawaja before the release of the autobiography and was not concerned about any potential fallout.
“Answered every question a million times. So, yeah, it was dealt with then,” he said.
Some commentators have questioned why Khawaja waited eight years to speak out and accused him of trying to boost sales of his book “Sabr”.
Khawaja responded on social media on Tuesday, saying he had no commercial motives.
“I’m very fortunate, I don’t need the money,” he said.
Source: Reuters
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