Sandpapergate scandal latest: South Africa’s Faf du Plessis makes explosive allegations in new book

Former South African captain Faf du Plessis has ripped the lid off the sandpapergate scandal with fresh revelations, including his surprising messages to Steve Smith.

Sand paper gate scandal art

Faf du Plessis has ripped the scabs off cricket’s ball tampering scandal by accusing Australia of shady tactics weeks before Cameron Bancroft was nabbed by umpires.

News Corp has obtained passages from the former South African captain’s soon-to-be-released autobiography titled, ‘Faf: Through Fire’, where he reveals how his team “engaged battle mode” in the Test before Sandpapergate and were so suspicious they started watching Australian fielders through binoculars from the change room.

Du Plessis takes aim at the Australians but does not paint himself as a saint, admitting to his own ball tampering sins and expressing sympathy for Bancroft and Steve Smith; even describing the punishments handed down to his bitter rivals as “unreasonably lengthy.”

Australia’s Cameron Bancroft (R) is questioned by umpires Richard Illingworth and Nigel Llong during the famous Cape Town Test. Picture: AFP

The most explosive allegation made by du Plessis is that South Africa suspected ball tampering from the first Test of the series, several weeks before the infamous Sandpapergate incident occurred in the third Test in Cape Town. It’s a claim that is vehemently disputed by Australian sources.

“During the first Test in Durban, the Australian pace attack had got the ball to reverse insanely,” writes du Plessis.

“Mitchell Starc claimed nine wickets and, although I regard him as one of the best proponents of reverse-swing bowling I have ever seen or faced, those deliveries in Durban were borderline unplayable.

“He would come in around the wicket with a badly deteriorated ball and get it to hoop past us.

“Our balls had also reversed but not nearly as much as theirs.

Faf du Plessis (R) said South Africa had suspected Australia had been tampering with the ball during the series.

“We suspected that someone had been nurturing the ball too much to get it to reverse so wildly, and we watched the second Test at St George’s through binoculars, so that we could follow the ball more closely while Australia was fielding.

“When we noticed that the ball was going to David Warner quite often, our changing room must have looked like a birdwatching hide as we peered intently through our binoculars.”

Later in the chapter du Plessis doubles down on his allegation:

“There was a visible difference between how Mitchell Starc got the ball to reverse in the first Test in Durban and the final Test in Johannesburg. We now know that there was an obvious reason for that.”

At no stage does du Plessis accuse Starc of having any knowledge of what he is insinuating was happening with the ball, but his comments will infuriate the Australian bowling attack who last year issued a joint statement condemning the “rumour-mongering and innuendo” around Sandpapergate.

Former South African cricket captain Faf du Plessis believes ball-tampering is common practice in cricket. Picture: Getty

For what it’s worth, du Plessis is not judging the Australians for their treatment of the ball, freely admitting he and his team have been guilty of tampering and convinced it’s long been common practice in cricket.

“I’m not mentioning this from atop a high horse. In the past, we have also been found guilty of employing unorthodox methods to get the ball to reverse swing,” du Plessis writes.

“… In our team, we just thought, ‘Nah! Ball tampering and reverse swing have always been there.’ In fact, it was probably more prevalent when camera technology wasn’t as good as it is today.

“… Personally, I don’t think Steve Smith did much wrong. It’s no secret that all cricket teams want the ball to reverse. Not everyone knows how to accomplish this, especially not inexperienced players. But everyone knows it’s wrong to change the condition of the ball. We, too, have pushed those boundaries.”

Steve Smith copped a heavily penalty after Sandpapergate - stripped of the captaincy and banned for 12 months. Picture: Getty

Du Plessis revealed the text message he sent to Smith on the night the furore blew up, and also his affinity with Bancroft, having also been caught ball tampering early in his own Test career.

“I have tremendous sympathy for what he (Bancroft) went through. This is what happens in a team when the culture of belonging is restricted to performance and when players are made to believe that they need to prove themselves at any cost before they feel accepted,” writes du Plessis.

“… Steve Smith and I have never been friends but we always played a hard game against each other, and Steve had been willing to defend me publicly in 2016 when Mintgate broke (a separate ball tampering scandal).

“I texted him that (Cape Town) evening: ‘Message of support. Gone through this myself. It is a terrible experience when they attack your character. Hang in there. It will blow over.’

“He responded, ‘Thanks mate!’ To which I replied, ‘There will be a shitstorm for a while. But stay strong.’”

Du Plessis was a nemesis to Australia throughout his decorated career. Picture: Getty

Du Plessis writes his team were so angry after allowing themselves to be “bullied” into submission by Australia in the first Test that they went on a two-day camp at a golf resort where they sat around a fire, drank beer and “engaged battle mode.”

It’s a telling insight into the mindset of the South African team and how their own aggressive attitude contributed to an unacceptable deterioration of behaviour from both teams, in what will be remembered for multiple incidents as perhaps the ugliest series in the history of Test cricket.

“… The conversation moved away from cricket to how we were going to force-feed the visitors some of their own medicine … let the bullies be bullied.”

Originally published as Sandpapergate scandal latest: South Africa’s Faf du Plessis makes explosive allegations in new book