I Panicked And Lied: Cameron Bancroft On Sand Paper

Australia Opener Cameron Bancroft who was caught red handed scrubbing the ball with a sand paper in the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town, said he was regretted his actions and disappointed with himself.

“I want to say that I’m very sorry ... I’m very disappointed and I regret my actions ... It is something I will regret for the rest of my life,” the Aussie said.

Bancroft was handed a nine-month ban while captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner face a year’s ban and also stripped of their leadership roles after the ball tampering fiasco that has rocked the cricketing world.

“All I can do is ask for forgiveness ... I will do my best to contribute to the community,” he added. Although Bancroft had initially denied using sand paper on the ball and later said sorry about lying after the scandal broke out.

“I lied. I lied about the sandpaper. I panicked in that situation and I’m very sorry ... I feel like I’ve let everyone down in Australia,” he said.

All the banned cricketers were sent home before the fourth Test in Johannesburg and have been barred from domestic cricket at this point. However, they have been told to do 100 hours voluntary service in community cricket.

“The thing that breaks my heart the most is that I’ve given up my spot in the team for free. People know I worked so hard to get to this point in my career and to have given up that chance for free is devastating,” he said. The 25-year-old also said that he had not tampered with the ball before.

“I have never ever been involved in tampering with the ball before and it clearly compromises my values and what I stand for as a player and as a person,” he said.

Speaking about his short stint of eight-Test old career tarred by the infamous incident, the opening batsman said he would try hard to make a comeback.

Also Read: Emotional Steve Smith Seeks Forgiveness, Hopes To Earn Back Respect

“For me to carry that out in front of world cricket and to be seen breaking the laws of the game, not playing within the spirit of the game, it’s completely how cricket shouldn’t be played,” he said.

“It’s going to be a really long road particularly for myself to earn that respect back but for me that’s the most important thing,” Bancroft added. Earlier, Warner, who has been dubbed the chief plotter in the incident, also apologized for letting down the game. The vice-captain took to Twitter to share his apology.