Faf revisits cricket’s darkest chapter, says Australia mishandled ‘Sandpaper Gate’

Eight years after the Sandpaper Gate scandal tainted Australian cricket, ex- South African captain Faf du Plessis has shared insights on one of sport's most controversial episodes. During a 2018 Cape Town Test, South Africa's Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera using sandpaper to tamper with the ball, leading to a storm of controversy that engulfed the Australian team.

Along with Smith and Warner, Bancroft was punished, losing his leadership roles or facing lengthy suspensions. However, du Plessis believes the media treated Bancroft particularly harshly. "Bancroft, and honestly, my first instincts with him were, I felt sorry for the guy. When I saw him, first of all, he did that, and I was like, 'Shame.'

He doesn't know what to do. He doesn't know how to get the ball to reverse swing, because taking a piece of sandpaper out of your pocket with cameras, it's not the most clever thing to do," he recalled. Du Plessis felt that Australia mishandled the fallout, allowing external pressures, including political intervention, to sway their response.

He questioned the lengthy bans imposed on the players, suggesting they could have been handled more leniently by the International Cricket Council. "Cricket Australia had other ideas. And they made that thing become a very big thing. Just let the ICC deal with it. I think when you let politics and stuff come into sport, it never ends well," he said.