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Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood had the crowd in splits during Day 2 of the second Test match between New Zealand and Australia. Playing at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch, Hazlewood was signing autographs for the fans while fielding at the boundary.
As he signed a bat, a cap – all the regular mementoes for some fans, one of them handed the fast bowler a piece of sandpaper. The context behind sandpaper is well known to the cricket fans who watched the 2018 series between Australia and South Africa. But for the uninitiated, Australia were caught rubbing sandpaper on the ball in a desperate attempt to get it reverse-swinging.
NZ vs AUS, 2nd Test: Day 3 Report
The trio of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were caught in the incident and handed bans by ICC on the charges of ball tampering.
Australia have been taunted multiple times over this particular incident and have worked very hard to wash away the image of ‘winning at whatever the cost’.
Hazlewood, however, remained calm when the fan handed him the sandpaper, saw the humour behind the incident and obliged to sign the memento.
The video was captured from the stands.
The Infamous Sandpapergate
In March 2018, the world of cricket was rocked by a scandal that would come to be known as “Sandpapergate,” involving the Australian national cricket team during their tour in South Africa. This controversy centred around an incident during the third Test match at Newlands in Cape Town, where Cameron Bancroft, with the knowledge and involvement of then-captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner, was caught on television cameras attempting to alter the condition of the ball using sandpaper. The aim was to rough up one side of the ball to make it swing in flight, a deceitful advantage against the opposing team.
The fallout from this incident was immediate and severe. Cricket Australia, the governing body for the sport in Australia, launched an investigation into the matter. The findings were damning; Warner was identified as the architect of the plan, instructing Bancroft on how to execute it, while Smith was found to have failed in preventing the plan despite being aware of it. As a result, Warner and Smith received twelve-month suspensions from all international and domestic cricket, with Warner permanently barred from any leadership roles within the team. Bancroft received a nine-month suspension. Additionally, all three players were mandated to undertake 100 hours of voluntary service in community cricket.
The repercussions extended beyond the players to the broader cricketing community. The incident called into question the culture within Australian cricket, prompting a review and leading to the resignation of the team’s coach, Darren Lehmann, despite him not being directly involved in the scandal. The scandal also had commercial implications, with Smith and Warner stepping down from their captaincy roles in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and subsequently being banned from the 2018 IPL season.
Sandpapergate not only tarnished the reputations of the individuals involved but also cast a long shadow over Australian cricket, sparking debates about sportsmanship and the spirit of the game. It remains one of the most significant controversies in the history of cricket, serving as a cautionary tale about the consequences of compromising integrity for competitive advantage.
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