Cricket Australia has no intention of expanding ball tampering investigation

The full story behind the ball tampering scandal may never be known with Cricket Australia having no desire to investigate Test matches prior to Cape Town.

The full story behind the infamous ball tampering scandal may never be known with Cricket Australia refusing to sift through the wreckage.

Chief executive Kevin Roberts indicated on Friday that he had no desire to shine a torch on Test matches prior to Cape Town which have been the subject of persistent rumours about whether ball tampering — and specifically the use of sandpaper — had occurred previously.

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Roberts admits the investigation conducted at the time by CA integrity officer Iain Roy centred specifically on what happened on day three in Cape Town and did not extend beyond those narrow parameters.

The Daily Telegraph understands that South African players spoke to match officials during the preceding second Test in Port Elizabeth to raise concerns over Australia’s treatment of the ball.

This in isolation was not necessarily eyebrow-raising, as the two teams had been complaining about each other all series.

Cameron Bancroft is questioned by umpires Richard Illingworth (left) and Nigel Llong during the Cape Town Test. Picture: AFP

However the innuendo coming out of the second Test was understood to be what led to local broadcasters deciding to centre their cameras on Cameron Bancroft and his work on the ball in Cape Town.

The key pillar of Cricket Australia’s investigation has been that Bancroft, David Warner and Steve Smith were the only three men in the team set-up with any knowledge of Sandpapergate.

It has been a contributing factor in their heavy-handed punishments and enhanced Warner’s notoriety as the architect of the plot.

However, those assumptions might be put under a microscope if it was ever proven ball-tampering had happened in previous matches.

According to Roberts, “speculation” around the genesis of Sandpapergate would not serve any purpose.

“There haven’t been any suggestions that there were any similar incident(s) with a foreign object such as sandpaper prior to this,” Roberts told ABC Grandstand.

“So I’m not sure that speculating around what may or may not have happened in history is helpful.

“We’re focused on today, and on the integration of the players back into the team and what support they need from us, and what support the leadership of the team need from us.

“ … As I understand it — and I’m not across all of the detail, I wasn’t in the CEO role then — it (the investigation) focused on the Cape Town match and the Cape Town incident.

“So our view is that it was dealt with nine months ago, and we’re looking forward to the remainder of the Test series here.”

Former high performance boss Pat Howard told The Daily Telegraph in an interview in August that he could not guarantee whether ball tampering had occurred previously but considered it unlikely.

Howard was not involved in the meetings investigator Roy had with select players and support staff but said the information that came back about the Cape Town incident painted a consistent picture.

“I’m across the agenda, not across every word that was said in those meetings,” Howard said at the time.

“They were very consistent in what was said around the action. There’s some innuendo around (previous matches) but it’s not consistent and it wasn’t investigated at the time.”

Australian Cricketers Association boss Alastair Nicholson said he sensed the dressing room would welcome Warner and Smith back once their bans expire.

He admitted he was “surprised” at the timing of Smith and Bancroft choosing to break their silence in the middle of a Test series.