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Casson backed Bancroft’s handling of the renewed scrutiny, saying that the batter’s response “speaks volumes” about the way he has carried himself since the scandal.
Cameron Bancroft in action in the infamous Cape Town Test (Picture credit: AFP)
Western Australia coach Beau Casson has revealed that Cameron Bancroft was keen to put the controversy behind him and ‘let his bat do the talking’ after Usman Khawaja claimed that he had volunteered to apply sandpaper to the ball during the Gqeberha Test, ahead of the Cape Town scandal.
Khawaja has reignited the sandpaper controversy with explosive revelations in his autobiography, Sabr, set to be released on Tuesday. Multiple of his claims concern Bancroft, who was handed a nine-month ban from international and domestic cricket for his involvement in the scandal.
After a swift Cricket Australia investigation, only Bancroft, Steve Smith and David Warner were punished for their roles in the scandal. Nine newspapers reported that Khawaja’s autobiography will allege that the use of sandpaper was discussed and carried out during the second Test at Gqeberha.
Khawaja further claimed that Bancroft had volunteered to use sandpaper during the first innings of the Test, in which the ball generated considerable swing. In excerpts published by News Corp, Khawaja detailed how the ball was retrieved from near the boundary, where the umpires had left it at the start of a session.
“We all knew that the umpire would drop the ball on the boundary as we went out onto the field. Straightaway, Bull [Warner] said, ‘Well, I cannot do it, they are all over me,” Khawaja has written.
“I was never going to do it, nor did I think anyone else would. So I just laughed. Then, Cameron Bancroft, who was only six games into his Test career and maybe wanting to fit in, said, ‘I will do it,” Khawaja adds.
The star cricketer claimed that he was seated next to Bancroft during the third Test at Newlands and saw him speak to a coach before television cameras captured the sandpaper incident on the third day.
“The situation is a long time ago. I think he (Bancroft) is keen to move on and let his bat do the talking. You cannot control everything. The way he has handled it, over the past couple of weeks and over the years gone by, speaks volumes of the way he has done that,” Casson said.
Quick Answers
Ask News18In his autobiography Sabr, Usman Khawaja claimed that the use of sandpaper was discussed and carried out during the second Test at Gqeberha, and that the entire Australian team was aware of and involved in the ball-tampering incident rather than just a few individuals, placing blame beyond Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft.
Ask News18November 08, 2026, 07:28 IST
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