No compelling reason to re-investigate sandpapergate: Cricket Australia

Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg has stated there is no "compelling reason" to reopen the investigation into the 2018 ball-tampering incident at Newlands, Cape Town, declaring the CA board sees "absolutely no benefit in going back" to the matter.

Greenberg made the position clear amid renewed public discussion surrounding the events of the third Test between Australia and South Africa in March 2018, when Cameron Bancroft was caught on television cameras using sandpaper to alter one side of the ball in an attempt to generate swing. Greenberg said the matter had been handled under previous leadership and that revisiting decisions through hindsight was not something the board intended to do.

"That's the clear position of the CA board. I think it's time we've got to look ahead, and the matter was dealt with under a previous leadership back in 2018. And you know, trying to second guess decisions from a previous time, or making an assessment through the prism of hindsight, it's not something we want to do." Greenberg was quoted as saying by Cricinfo.

Usman Khawaja had written publicly about the Cape Town incident, and former Australia bowler Chadd Sayers responded to that account. Notably, Sayers was part of the Australian squad for the tour back in 2018 and had also played the encounter subsequent to the sandpapergate encounter.

"Everything Usman says in his article is accurate," he told SEN Radio.

Greenberg acknowledged Khawaja's article but said the board's position had not shifted. Greenberg also noted that other players who were in the Cape Town dressing room held accounts that differed from Khawaja's version.

"We have said we're comfortable with the outcome of the investigation based on the information we've received, that includes what we've seen from Usman and our position hasn't changed on that. I can assure you, there are lots of other players who have a very, very different version of events, and they've made that very public from the very start in 2018," Greenberg said.

What does Greenberg's ruling establish about the CA board's position?

Greenberg was direct in stating that the board had reviewed the available information, including Khawaja's public article, and found no new grounds to justify a fresh inquiry. He said the bowlers who played in Cape Town had remained consistent in their accounts from the original 2018 investigation through to the present day, and that his conversations with several of them over the weekend had not changed that picture.

"I don't see any compelling reason to open the investigation or revisit this again. I don't think there's anything that can be gained from that. They've been very consistent in their position right through until today, and you know my conversations with many of them over the weekend, I don't think that will change either. So I think we end up at the same intersection point, which is eight years ago people have a version of events which differ from each other. And I completely get it, no one would like to get this chapter of Australian cricket closed more than me, but it is unlikely," Greenberg added.

He also pointed to the consistency of the bowlers' statements across both the original 2018 process and the public statements that emerged in 2021.

"And as I said, I know people are calling for the truth, but in reference to the bowlers, I think one thing that is clear is they've been very consistent from the original investigation back in 2018, in the days that immediately followed this Test match." he said further.

The board's stance, as Greenberg framed it, is that the investigation conducted at the time was sufficient and that the outcome stands.

Which Cape Town players are expected to speak publicly in the coming days?

Australia captain Pat Cummins was one of the bowlers in the Cape Town XI during the third Test in March 2018, and Greenberg confirmed that Cummins would address the issue in the coming days or weeks. Mitchell Starc, another bowler who played in that match, was due to appear before the media on Tuesday, November 10. Mitchell Marsh, who also featured in the Cape Town XI, was scheduled to hold a media conference in Perth on Thursday ahead of the first ODI against England.

"There's no doubt that you'll hear from Pat and you'll hear from other players over the coming days or weeks," he said.

The sequence of media appearances by Cummins, Starc and Marsh means the public discussion around the 2018 incident is likely to continue even as the CA board has formally declined to reopen proceedings.