Aussie bowlers’ statement on Sandpaper Gate very smartly worded, feels Clarke

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The infamous Sandpaper Gate has once again become a hot topic of discussion in the cricketing world. All of it began after Cameron Bancroft’s recent comments on the incident in which he hinted that the bowlers were aware of the ball-tampering plans. Later, the Australian bowlers who were part of that Test Match in Cape Town, delivered a joint statement in which they claimed innocence and termed it "disappointing" that their "integrity is being questioned."

Former Australian captain Michael Clarke, who was one of those who had raised questions against the bowlers, has now given his opinion on the joint statement. Clarke feels that the statement has been very smartly worded. He highlighted how the statement never mentions Bancroft's comments which led to this conversation in the first place.

Those guys need to remember how this conversation has been brought up: Clarke

"The one thing that stands out for mine in that statement [is] they forgot how this conversation was brought up. It was comments from a teammate Cameron Bancroft who was involved in the situation and then quotes from David Saker who was the bowling coach at the time," Clarke said on Sky Sports Radio.

"I think those guys and Cricket Australia need to remember how this conversation has been brought up so in their statement they should have added where it says: ‘We pride ourselves on our honesty. So it’s been disappointing to see that our integrity has been questioned by some journalists and past players’ — you probably should have put current teammate who was there at the time and did the crime and bowling coach who was there too. You probably left two people out," he added.

"This statement is very smartly worded and written so I’m not going to sit here and continue to talk about every word in that statement. I’ve said what I’ve said. It certainly was not personal towards them. I said what I said because that’s what I believe," he further said.

What is the Sandpaper Gate?

Notably, in March 2018 in a Test match against South Africa at Cape Town, Bancroft was caught on camera trying to alter the condition of the ball using a sandpaper. The incident later went on to be labelled as the 'Sandpaper Gate' and apart from Bancroft, Steve Smith and David Warner, who were part of the leadership group, were punished for their actions. Sandpaper Gate remains one of the darkest moments in the history of Australian cricket.