Bowlers, Cameron Bancroft ‘clear the air’ over Sandpapergate, says Tim Paine

Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon issued a strongly-worded statement on Tuesday denying any knowledge of the plot and calling for an end to "rumour-mongering" and "innuendo".

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Australia will meet Afghanistan in a single test in late November before the first of the Ashes series begins on December 8 in Brisbane (AP File)

2 min readReutersMay 19, 2021 10:59 AM IST First published on: May 19, 2021 at 10:59 AM IST

The four Australia bowlers who played in the infamous “Sandpapergate” test have been in touch with Cameron Bancroft to “clear the air” over suggestions they knew about the ball-tampering, captain Tim Paine said on Wednesday.

Bancroft, who was banned for scuffing the ball with a piece of sandpaper during the third test against South Africa in Cape Town in March 2018, suggested in an interview last week that the bowlers had known about the attempts to alter the ball.

Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon issued a strongly-worded statement on Tuesday denying any knowledge of the plot and calling for an end to “rumour-mongering” and “innuendo”.