Australia v West Indies: Cameron Bancroft Sandpapergate conspiracy denied by selectors after Test snub

With the Sheffield Shield’s most in-form batsmen controversially overlooked for the Test squad, selectors had to confront a conspiracy theory posed by a former Australian great.

Australian selection chair George Bailey has emphatically rejected a conspiracy theory that Cameron Bancroft’s omission from the Test squad is related to the lingering effects of the ball tampering affair.

West Australian greats demanded answers after Bancroft was bypassed in the 13-man Australian squad for the first Test against the West Indies in Adelaide despite being far and away the leading Sheffield Shield runscorer since the start of last season.

Among those to condemn the call were former Test skipper Kim Hughes and World Cup winner Tom Moody, who suggested on social media that there had to be an “agenda” against Bancroft.

While Bancroft had a brief stint back in the Aussie side following his ban for the Cape Town scandal, he hasn’t played international cricket since an explosive interview with The Guardian in 2021 in which he hinted that breadth of knowledge around the sandpaper plot was not limited to Bancroft, David Warner and Steve Smith.

Cameron Bancroft has been largely overlooked on the Test scene, despite strong Shield form. Picture: Getty

That led to Australia’s bowlers – Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon – putting out a joint statement reiterating that they weren’t aware of the plans to cheat.

But speaking on Wednesday, Bailey stressed that Bancroft had been left out purely because Cameron Green and Matt Renshaw were both considered superior batters in the eyes of the panel.

“He’s gone through a whole range of emotions,” Bancroft’s agent Ben Tippett told SEN on Wednesday night about how his client had handled missing out.

“Yesterday, he was really upset, disappointed is probably more the feeling. Today he might be a bit angry, but he’s such a positive bloke.”

“It’s categorically no,” Bailey said when asked if there were residual issues between Bancroft and members of the squad that were working against the WA opener.

“And I’ve shared this with Cameron on a number of occasions. But it’s never at any stage been discussed from the panel’s perspective. (It’s) purely a cricketing decision.

Australia chief selector George Bailey has firmly rejected the Sandpapergate conspiracy theory. Picture: Getty

“There’s not a member of the team that would have an issue with Cam playing, we certainly don’t have an issue with it.

“I think a lot of people tend to forget the fact that Cam’s actually played Test cricket. Since returning from the ban, it was a long time ago. We’ve all moved well past that. I’d be disappointed if people were looking to that as a reason. And you know, all I can do is reiterate to you and to Cam that that’s not the case. Never has been, never will be.”

Moody tweeted that: “Selection is never an easy task but the oversight of Cameron Bancroft is shocking. His first class numbers are so compelling against his peers it feels there is another agenda which I hope was communicated to him honestly!”

Selection is never an easy task but the oversight of Cameron Bancroft is shocking.
His first class numbers are so compelling against his peers it feels there is another agenda which I hope was communicated to him honestly! #Bancroft

— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) January 9, 2024

Bailey was adamant though that while Bancroft had been “banging down the door,” others had also mounted strong cases for selection.

“We’ve obviously gone for Matt Renshaw as the reserve batter in the squad. I think ultimately you can mount statistically some strong cases for a number of players. I think Cam is one of those, Marcus Harris who’s been on a number of tours as a spare batter.

“I know the focus has been heavily on the opening batters, but I also think Aaron Hardie and Nathan McSweeney are two young guys who we’re really impressed with, two who are starting to put some pretty impressive numbers up there to challenge for some spots as well.

“So there’s a handful of guys I think, who are challenging. Cam’s Sheffield Shield record the last couple of years is obviously phenomenal and it’s made this decision really challenging. Lineball call. Ultimately, the decision to get Cam (Green) into the team was around we want our best six batters playing.

“We’ve gone back sort of 18 months or so and I think if you take into account all first-class cricket I think across that time those guys have played Shield cricket clearly, some county cricket, some Australia A cricket, PM’s XI games, Matthew’s played a couple of tests in Australia and in India, across that period and his numbers stack up as well as anyone’s across that time.”

Originally published as Australia v West Indies: Cameron Bancroft Sandpapergate conspiracy denied by selectors after Test snub