SYDNEY – After Steve Smith accepted the sanctions handed down to him by Cricket Australia (CA), Cameron Bancroft, too, tweeted out his acceptance of a nine-month suspension for his involvement in the ball-tampering incident in the Cape Town Test against South Africa last month.
“Today I lodged the paperwork with Cricket Australia and will be accepting the sanction handed down,” Bancroft tweeted on Wednesday. “I would love to put this behind me and will do whatever it takes to earn back the trust of the Australian public. Thank you to all those who have sent messages of support.”
Today I lodged the paperwork with Cricket Australia and will be accepting the sanction handed down. I would love to put this behind me and will do whatever it takes to earn back the trust of the Australian public. Thank you to all those who have sent messages of support
— Cameron Bancroft (@cbancroft4) April 4, 2018
Smith, who has been suspended for a 12-month period, had earlier tweeted: “I would give anything to have this behind me and be back representing my country. But I meant what I said about taking full responsibility as captain of the team. I won’t be challenging the sanctions. They’ve been imposed by CA to send a strong message and I have accepted them.”
David Warner was also handed a suspension for 12 months by CA and sent back home prior to the fourth Test in Johannesburg along with Smith and Bancroft.
Though Warner hasn’t made public his decision on the sanction yet, he did address a press gathering soon after returning home from South Africa, where he said, “In the back of my mind, there's a tiny ray of hope that I may one day play for my country again but I'm resigned to the fact that might never happen.”
The three players were held responsible for trying to alter the condition of the ball after Bancroft was caught on the camera using what was later confirmed to be sandpaper on the ball on the third day of the penultimate Test.
Following his suspension and return home, Bancroft also addressed a press contingent, where he said, “I will regret this for the rest of my life. All I can do in the short term is ask for forgiveness. I will do my best to contribute to the community.”