Bancroft reveals Warner tampering truth — ‘fitting in’
Cameron Bancroft has opened up on the ball-tampering scandal, revealing what happened inside the Australian cricket team’s dressing room in Cape Town before he was caught cheating.
Steve Smith and David Warner were banned for 12 months for their role in the controversy while Bancroft was suspended for nine months after he admitted to roughing up the ball with sandpaper during the third test against South Africa in March.
In an exclusive interview with Aussie legend Adam Gilchrist on Fox Cricket during the lunch break on the opening day of the Boxing Day test between Australia and India, Bancroft revealed how he was coerced into cheating by Warner because he desperately wanted to feel valued within the team.
“Dave [Warner] suggested to me to carry the action out on the ball given the situation we were in in the game and I didn’t know any better,” Bancroft told Gilchrist.
“I didn’t know any better because I just wanted to fit in and feel valued.
“The decision was based around my values, what I valued at the time and I valued fitting in . . . you hope that fitting in earns you respect and with that, I guess, there came a pretty big cost for the mistake.”
Despite Warner being the instigator, Bancroft — who was only eight matches into his test career when he tampered with the ball — refused to blame anyone else and took full responsibility for his actions.
The opening batsman illustrated what a tough spot he was in when he said he would have felt just as bad had he refused to ball tamper because he’d feel like he was letting the team down by not helping it gain an advantage. I would have gone to bed and I would have felt like I had let everybody down. I would have felt like I had let the team down.”