Gideon, I always read your remarks and insights about the sandpaper issue very carefully and challenge myself to keep an open mind as I think your comments regarding conjecture are fair.
However, as a humble but long term player, surely we can agree that the grassy knoll theory is more plausible than a professional bowling group (the BIG FOUR™️) not knowing that the ball is being sanded in a test match?
I have this nagging feeling that the truth is actually worse than as it is presented but perhaps I am indeed looking for the third gunman.
I’d like to think that if I was bowling in 4th grade this weekend that I might have a vague idea that the guy at short leg is sanding the ball and notice that the guy who had been the ball manager all season and had worn hand bandages the whole time was not fielding in the ring or managing the ball and be a tad curious as to why?
Who is Lee Harvey Oswald in your story? If it’s Bancroft, are the current selectors Jack Ruby? 😂
Excellent summary of Warner. I cannot stand him or the Fox/Murdoch media machine behind him but he has been a fabulous and resilient player.
I too have always felt the strong nagging feeling that there’s still a lot more to Sandpapergate than what the public was told. For starters, the published investigation by CA which we were all told would be thorough and made public was not thorough and leaves out many key questions. Where did the sandpaper come from?
Who else knew about it?
When exactly was the plan hatched?
Did Lehmann or any of support staff know?
None of this as far as I know was mentioned in the CA investigation report.
Now to Warner, who was sanctioned the harshest, has never said a public word about how it all happened. His loyalty to the bowling group has remained rock solid and unbreakable even in the face of extreme pressure. I just don’t see him revealing all the secrets in his forthcoming book and throwing Starc et al under the bus…for what? Money? He has enough. Redemption? It wouldn’t help. He will still be playing with Starc and others in white ball cricket. Revealing all now would detonate a bomb under the team.
While we hate what Warner did, his loyalty and mateship so far cannot be questioned. The NSW cricket mafia has shown itself to be very resilient. And I would be very surprised if that changed anytime soon.
My personal view is that it was not a one off but that Warner was a useful pawn in a desperate phase of “baggy greenness” encouraged by elements within CA. I can accept that Warner “lost it” in the heat of an emotive and personal exchange in a competitive series but I do find it very difficult to believe that the remaining 8 on field players, squad and staff were oblivious. I agree that Warner has nothing to gain in a reveal all book and that he has been well managed and advised by Erskine. God bless his daughters but when they appeared at the official KAYO season launch replete with staff shirts, it’s pretty tough not to believe in the grassy knoll theory and that MJ had been a very naughty boy in biting the hand that feeds.
What surprises me a little is no quality Aussie cricket journalists have really focused and highlighted on the obvious incompleteness of the CA’s Ian Roy’s CapeTown investigation in spite of multiple books written about it.
.When you read the CA Roy report, it’s very clear how woefully incomplete it is.
Why weren’t CA called out on it by cricket journalists until they got answers?
Was the stonewalling by CA so effective that no journalist was able to crack it?
Worried about future access to players/officials?
Told that more revelations would severely harm Aussie cricket?
Surely there’s still an unwritten book there waiting to be written
Or if someone here has more info on the Roy report and CA follow up, I’m all ears!
Dan Brettig, Geoff Lemon and Gideon have all looked at the matters and related issues pretty closely but I guess the issue you’re raising is perhaps even more gloomy. Not only was it poorly investigated in the first place, the mess was mopped up as in below. Did someone mention Jack Ruby? 😂
And then, there’s this curious interview with David Saker, in 2021.
I actually forgot that the Iain Roy Cape Town report was in fact, never released. I had mixed up the public CA reports on team culture etc which were bland and saccharine. The fact that the Roy report was never released is the most damning of all….did someone say integrity?
So 3 of our very finest cricket journalists were unable to extract the Roy report from CA. I really like all 3 of them, but I just can’t wrap my head around that one, other than agree with you that the circus carried on and we all got distracted.
Perhaps as Gideon is very passionate about cricket, even he realised that digging further could severely damage Aussie cricket for an entire generation or more and it wasn’t worth the cost? That’s the most likely explanation.
Peter Lalor another fine cricket journalist is writing Warner’s book. Pete and Gideon are close friends until their excellent cricket podcast suddenly stopped with virtually no explanation.
Is there any connection between Lalor writing Warner’s book and the Cricket et cetera podcast stopping?
Ha! No, there's not - that's the work of another evil empire, The Australian. I do know a little more about the Roy report, but it was offered on background when I was researching my book Crossing the Line so I'm unable to share it. But I'm not sure we'd learn much even if it were public: recall that it was assembled in just a couple of days, and the conclusions were really foreordained. And Roy's departure from CA was more related to its incompetence than directly to Sandpapergate. He is an excellent operator.
As above, I just wonder whether this captures it: “Warner was neither leader nor agent in the tampering: these, respectively, were Smith and Cameron Bancroft.” I was under the impression- perhaps unfairly- that Warner was the instigator and Bancroft his agent. I’m not seeking to diminish the Captain’s responsibility but in my mind Bancroft is least morally culpable and it would be Warner or Smith as most.
Completely agree Warner shouldn’t have received the leadership ban and he was an easy scapegoat for deeper cultural issues. I also think Warner has behaved himself more or less impeccably and with dignity on the field since it happened. And that counts for something.
A final point on Warner, alluded to in your discussion of his Australian v overseas average: he made 21 centuries of 26 at home. Two overseas were in South Africa, very amenable to Australian batters. I don’t doubt Warner’s selection or his claim to being a very good batter that will be hard to replace (as we will see!), but this record does pale in comparison with real legends of the game. He certainly didn’t deserve a place in Crash’s recent top 10.
Great read. Warner definitely strikes me as one of those guys even his enemies will look back on fondly the next time we have a lean patch. I confess I had to look up “uxorious”, but maybe I just don’t love my wife enough!
Deserves to be ranked among the highest level of cricketers that have been significant to the influence of real and meaningful change through quality of performance and presentation.
Keep going David Warner. Much more ahead and thank you for the Test career.
I’m no fan of Warner the person principally due to his boorish behaviour prior to Cape Town. However, I’ve always felt he was the least culpable of the “guilty three”. Bancroft performed the act - he could easily have declined. Smith ignored it as captain and had a responsibility. Warner, we are led to believe, had the idea, and asked Bancroft to do it. But that’s it. I bet a lot of poor ideas get tossed around and are never acted upon. Aside from that, Warner as a cricketer must be in contention for Australia’s best ever test eleven.
That Bancroft obediently implemented such a cock-eyed 'plan' was characteristic of a cricketer desperate to endear himself to the leadership and incapable of thinking for himself.
But is it honestly as simple as that? Davey randomly decides things are desperate enough to sand the ball and suggests that Bancroft do it for no other reason than he is the eager to please junior and Smith sees/hears this conversation and elects to let it play out and every other member of the team, squad and staff are oblivious. Really? Is it actually that pathetic? Is everything else a beat up? It just defies belief.
As we always expect from your analysis, this piece on Warner is balanced and luminous in dissecting a complex character. I did appreciate your analysis of ‘form’ and ‘confidence’. The third peg - Fitness - is germane to confidence as in Warner’s case. I remember Vishvanath or Bedi who walked in on sheer talent into any side but might struggle in the modern game if they did not meet the fitness demanded.
Gideon, I always read your remarks and insights about the sandpaper issue very carefully and challenge myself to keep an open mind as I think your comments regarding conjecture are fair.
However, as a humble but long term player, surely we can agree that the grassy knoll theory is more plausible than a professional bowling group (the BIG FOUR™️) not knowing that the ball is being sanded in a test match?
I have this nagging feeling that the truth is actually worse than as it is presented but perhaps I am indeed looking for the third gunman.
I’d like to think that if I was bowling in 4th grade this weekend that I might have a vague idea that the guy at short leg is sanding the ball and notice that the guy who had been the ball manager all season and had worn hand bandages the whole time was not fielding in the ring or managing the ball and be a tad curious as to why?
Who is Lee Harvey Oswald in your story? If it’s Bancroft, are the current selectors Jack Ruby? 😂
Excellent summary of Warner. I cannot stand him or the Fox/Murdoch media machine behind him but he has been a fabulous and resilient player.
I too had to look up uxorious.
I too have always felt the strong nagging feeling that there’s still a lot more to Sandpapergate than what the public was told. For starters, the published investigation by CA which we were all told would be thorough and made public was not thorough and leaves out many key questions. Where did the sandpaper come from?
Who else knew about it?
When exactly was the plan hatched?
Did Lehmann or any of support staff know?
None of this as far as I know was mentioned in the CA investigation report.
Now to Warner, who was sanctioned the harshest, has never said a public word about how it all happened. His loyalty to the bowling group has remained rock solid and unbreakable even in the face of extreme pressure. I just don’t see him revealing all the secrets in his forthcoming book and throwing Starc et al under the bus…for what? Money? He has enough. Redemption? It wouldn’t help. He will still be playing with Starc and others in white ball cricket. Revealing all now would detonate a bomb under the team.
While we hate what Warner did, his loyalty and mateship so far cannot be questioned. The NSW cricket mafia has shown itself to be very resilient. And I would be very surprised if that changed anytime soon.
My personal view is that it was not a one off but that Warner was a useful pawn in a desperate phase of “baggy greenness” encouraged by elements within CA. I can accept that Warner “lost it” in the heat of an emotive and personal exchange in a competitive series but I do find it very difficult to believe that the remaining 8 on field players, squad and staff were oblivious. I agree that Warner has nothing to gain in a reveal all book and that he has been well managed and advised by Erskine. God bless his daughters but when they appeared at the official KAYO season launch replete with staff shirts, it’s pretty tough not to believe in the grassy knoll theory and that MJ had been a very naughty boy in biting the hand that feeds.
What surprises me a little is no quality Aussie cricket journalists have really focused and highlighted on the obvious incompleteness of the CA’s Ian Roy’s CapeTown investigation in spite of multiple books written about it.
.When you read the CA Roy report, it’s very clear how woefully incomplete it is.
Why weren’t CA called out on it by cricket journalists until they got answers?
Was the stonewalling by CA so effective that no journalist was able to crack it?
Worried about future access to players/officials?
Told that more revelations would severely harm Aussie cricket?
Surely there’s still an unwritten book there waiting to be written
Or if someone here has more info on the Roy report and CA follow up, I’m all ears!
Dan Brettig, Geoff Lemon and Gideon have all looked at the matters and related issues pretty closely but I guess the issue you’re raising is perhaps even more gloomy. Not only was it poorly investigated in the first place, the mess was mopped up as in below. Did someone mention Jack Ruby? 😂
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/cricket-australia-parts-ways-with-newlands-investigator-iain-roy-1148251
Cricket Australia as a governance organisation has been in such incredible free fall it’s impossible to keep a straight face.
And then, of course, Warnie and Roy sadly passed away and the mainstream cricket media lost its collective mind.
And then, JLgate was the next distraction.
The carnival rolls on.
Whoever came up with The Test as a clean up strategy (give a bit/withhold a bit) was a clever clogs.
And then, there’s this curious interview with David Saker, in 2021.
I actually forgot that the Iain Roy Cape Town report was in fact, never released. I had mixed up the public CA reports on team culture etc which were bland and saccharine. The fact that the Roy report was never released is the most damning of all….did someone say integrity?
So 3 of our very finest cricket journalists were unable to extract the Roy report from CA. I really like all 3 of them, but I just can’t wrap my head around that one, other than agree with you that the circus carried on and we all got distracted.
Perhaps as Gideon is very passionate about cricket, even he realised that digging further could severely damage Aussie cricket for an entire generation or more and it wasn’t worth the cost? That’s the most likely explanation.
Peter Lalor another fine cricket journalist is writing Warner’s book. Pete and Gideon are close friends until their excellent cricket podcast suddenly stopped with virtually no explanation.
Is there any connection between Lalor writing Warner’s book and the Cricket et cetera podcast stopping?
https://www.sportingnews.com/au/cricket/news/cricket-david-saker-ball-tampering-cameron-bancroft-david-warner-steve-smith-australia-melbourne-renegades/1sz5wmgw9xslu11b03kmid3mie
Ha! No, there's not - that's the work of another evil empire, The Australian. I do know a little more about the Roy report, but it was offered on background when I was researching my book Crossing the Line so I'm unable to share it. But I'm not sure we'd learn much even if it were public: recall that it was assembled in just a couple of days, and the conclusions were really foreordained. And Roy's departure from CA was more related to its incompetence than directly to Sandpapergate. He is an excellent operator.
As above, I just wonder whether this captures it: “Warner was neither leader nor agent in the tampering: these, respectively, were Smith and Cameron Bancroft.” I was under the impression- perhaps unfairly- that Warner was the instigator and Bancroft his agent. I’m not seeking to diminish the Captain’s responsibility but in my mind Bancroft is least morally culpable and it would be Warner or Smith as most.
Completely agree Warner shouldn’t have received the leadership ban and he was an easy scapegoat for deeper cultural issues. I also think Warner has behaved himself more or less impeccably and with dignity on the field since it happened. And that counts for something.
A final point on Warner, alluded to in your discussion of his Australian v overseas average: he made 21 centuries of 26 at home. Two overseas were in South Africa, very amenable to Australian batters. I don’t doubt Warner’s selection or his claim to being a very good batter that will be hard to replace (as we will see!), but this record does pale in comparison with real legends of the game. He certainly didn’t deserve a place in Crash’s recent top 10.
Good comment, although not the best analogy as the grassy knoll theory like all the others is pure fiction.
Great read. Warner definitely strikes me as one of those guys even his enemies will look back on fondly the next time we have a lean patch. I confess I had to look up “uxorious”, but maybe I just don’t love my wife enough!
...and “eristic” too! Love it.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
“eristic” gold 👏
Deserves to be ranked among the highest level of cricketers that have been significant to the influence of real and meaningful change through quality of performance and presentation.
Keep going David Warner. Much more ahead and thank you for the Test career.
I’m no fan of Warner the person principally due to his boorish behaviour prior to Cape Town. However, I’ve always felt he was the least culpable of the “guilty three”. Bancroft performed the act - he could easily have declined. Smith ignored it as captain and had a responsibility. Warner, we are led to believe, had the idea, and asked Bancroft to do it. But that’s it. I bet a lot of poor ideas get tossed around and are never acted upon. Aside from that, Warner as a cricketer must be in contention for Australia’s best ever test eleven.
That Bancroft obediently implemented such a cock-eyed 'plan' was characteristic of a cricketer desperate to endear himself to the leadership and incapable of thinking for himself.
But is it honestly as simple as that? Davey randomly decides things are desperate enough to sand the ball and suggests that Bancroft do it for no other reason than he is the eager to please junior and Smith sees/hears this conversation and elects to let it play out and every other member of the team, squad and staff are oblivious. Really? Is it actually that pathetic? Is everything else a beat up? It just defies belief.
I think you've answered your own question, CJ. I said that the inception of Sandpapergate was prosaic; I didn't say it was a solitary brainstorm.
☺️👍
As we always expect from your analysis, this piece on Warner is balanced and luminous in dissecting a complex character. I did appreciate your analysis of ‘form’ and ‘confidence’. The third peg - Fitness - is germane to confidence as in Warner’s case. I remember Vishvanath or Bedi who walked in on sheer talent into any side but might struggle in the modern game if they did not meet the fitness demanded.