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As the Sandpapergate scandal took the headlines again after Usman Khawaja's explosive comments ahead of the release of his autobiography, the focus is again on Cameron Bancroft. According to Khawaja's claims, Bancroft was the person who volunteered the entire episode.
Usman Khawaja, in his latest statements, claimed that they used the sandpaper to temper the ball in Cape Town after a discussion among themselves.
If the comments made by the former Australia National Cricket Team opener are to be believed, then through discussions, not only Steve Smith, Cameron Bancroft, and David Warner, who Cricket Australia subsequently banned for tampering with the ball, but also the rest of the team, including Darren Lehmann, the head coach at the time, were involved in planning the incident.
Cameron Bancroft led the Sandpapergate scandal
It has been almost eight years since the Sandpapergate incident took place during the second match of the Test series in South Africa. As Bancroft is accused of playing a lead role in the incident, it was necessary to know his own stance after Khawaja's explanations. Cameron Bancroft and Western Australia coach Beau Casson, however, are keen on moving away from the controversy.
After a match against England at the WACA ground, Western Australia's head coach Beau Casson told the reporters that Cameron Bancroft was keen on move on and replied only through his on-field heroics as there could be some incidents which were beyond the control.
"The situation's a long time ago. I think he's keen to move on and let his bat do the talking. You can't control everything. The way he's handled it, over the past couple of weeks, and over the years gone by, it speaks volumes of the way he's done that," Casson told reporters.
Western Australia's head coach takes Cameron Bancroft's side
Casson even mentioned that Bancroft has set an example of how to carry on a career maintaining professionalism after being involved in one of the most talked-about cricket incidents.
"He certainly sets the example of how to go about being a professional cricketer," he added.
In the match against England, Bancroft scored 32 off 40 balls at the top of the order and took three catches as well while fielding. However, his team, Western Australia, lost the match by 92 runs.
Cameron Bancroft remains a major part of Western Australia
After the Sandpapergate incident, all three main accused, Smith, Warner and Bancroft, returned to professional cricket after serving the ban. While Warner announced his retirement after conducting a successful career of the national team, Steve Smith is still active for the Australia National Cricket Team. Cameron Bancroft's career did not reach the heights of the other two.
The batter last played for the national team during the 2019 Ashes tour but remains a prolific run-scorer for Western Australia. He played a key role, with a batting average of 48.37, behind the team's hat-trick of Sheffield Shield titles from 2021-24.
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