'That’s how you cheat,' Jeff Thomson Reveals Shocking Ball-Tampering Ploy

The Sandpaper scandal might be the most high-profile ball-tampering scandal in cricket but it is perhaps nothing compare to what former Australia pacer Jeff Thomson did to tamper with the ball. In 2018, the cricketing world was rocked when Australia opener Cameron Bancroft was caught red-handed trying to change the condition of the ball with a sandpaper during the Cape Town Test against South Africa.

Later, Cameron, Steve Smith and David Warner were slapped with lengthy bans by Cricket Australia. Coming to Jeff Thomson, one can say that his action could well put the entire Sandpapergate scandal to shame. The legendary pacer confessed to tampering with a Kookaburra ball during a Sheffield Shield match between his side Queensland against Tasmania sometime in the 1970s, taking his skipper Greg Chappell into confidence.

“We were playing at the Gabba playing Tasmania on a flat as s*** wicket. I was bowling, Boony (David Boon) was batting I think,” Jeff Thomson said on The Betoota Advocate Podcast.

“The ball was s***. Kookaburra started making really bad balls because there was no opposition. So the s*** that they made was crap and soft. I’d asked the umpire before the lunch break, ‘This ball’s s***.’ He said, ‘There’s nothing wrong with this’. It was like a marshmallow. At the lunch break, Greg Chappell said to me, ‘We’ve got to get rid of this ball.’ I said, ‘I’ll fix this freaking thing up’.”

While the 2018 Sandpaper incident was all about keeping improving the condition of the ball to generate swing, Jeff Thomson wanted to make the ball completely unplayable so that the umpires had no other option than getting a new ball. And for it, he used a Gillette razor blade, carrying it in his pocket.

“This is a true story. Remember those old razor blades? Just a blade on either side, a flat piece of steel. I put that in my pocket. I’ve run around the quarter seam with it and around the main seam, but I pushed it a bit hard. I bowled this ball to Boony, and the thing was nearly fallen in quarters like an orange,” he said.

“After lunch, I said, ‘I told you this ball was f*****, look at this,’ and (the umpire) has gone, ‘Jesus, I’ve never seen a ball do this.’ It’s got clean cuts; it’s not even frayed on the stitching. It’s f***ing clean cut, it was very odd. Anyway, we got a new ball and I got him out and we won the f***ing match. That’s how you cheat,” added Jeff Thomson.

Also Read: I Can Dismiss Steve Smith On The 4th Ball, LOL, Says Shoaib Akhtar

Also Read: I Still Question Myself Why This Happened To Me: Amit Mishra On His India Axing