Root says ball-tampering was not rife in cricket at time of Sandpapergate
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England's Joe Root says he does not believe ball-tampering was widespread in international cricket when Australia's 'Sandpapergate' scandal happened. He declined to comment on Usman Khawaja's claims, saying he does not want to speculate.
England's Joe Root says he does not believe ball-tampering was rampant across the international game at the time of Australia's 'Sandpapergate' scandal in 2018. Asked whether he thought it was rife in the sport eight years ago, he said he could only speak from his own experiences and that this was not how he felt.
Root was responding to claims by former Australia batter Usman Khawaja in his newly released autobiography, 'Sabr'. Khawaja alleges that every member of the team knew about the plan to alter the condition of the ball in South Africa in 2018. He also suggests sandpaper was used in the previous Test in Gqeberha, and says Australia experimented with lifting the seam during the 2017-18 Ashes, which they won 4-0.
Root, who is in Australia ahead of a three-match ODI series starting in Perth on Friday, said England have no idea about the claims. He said it was all speculation, that he was not in that dressing room, and that he did not want to speculate. He said his focus was on the current team.
In 2018, Cameron Bancroft was filmed applying sandpaper to the ball in Cape Town and was banned for nine months. Then-captain Steve Smith and David Warner received year-long suspensions.
Mitchell Starc said on Tuesday that he was not aware of the scandal ahead of time. Australia's white-ball captain Mitchell Marsh, who played in the Cape Town Test, is due to hold a press conference on Thursday. Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg, who was not involved with the organisation at the time, said there was "no compelling reason" to re-open an investigation.
