Stuart Broad claims that Sandpaper Gate would turn āinterestingā after David Warner retiresĀ
England's Stuart Broad is of the opinion that new revelations will be made in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal when David Warner hangs up his boots and pens a book. He also empathized with the Aussie players as he reckons it was a tough episode for them, but doesn't see it stretching to the Ashes.
A lot of speculation has been made ever since Cameron Bancroft, one of the three major culprits from the Sandpaper Gate, suggested indirectly that the Aussie bowlers also had an idea that the ball was being tampered with in the Cape Town Test. All hell broke loose after that, with Cricket Australia's integrity unit reaching out to the Australian opener.
England pacer Stuart Broad, who has been no stranger to expressing his views on the matter, for a change, empathized with the Australian players and reckoned that it was an extremely tough episode for them.Ā
However, he also suggested that once David Warner, the mastermind of the whole controversey, retires from international cricket and writes his own book, a lot of new things will be discovered about the episode. Interestingly, when the Sandpaper Gate had come to light, Broad had said that he was unsure if Cape Town was the first time the Aussies had tampered with the ball.Ā
"There's no doubt the Aussies would have been hoping this episode was signed sealed and delivered. It was an incredibly tough thing for those three players to go through. I can't see it still being a conversation [when the Ashes start] in November, December, but I can see it being sung in the Barmy Army stands if they're allowed.
"I have seen a couple of comments from David Warner's agent, too, and I think it will be an interesting time when he stops playing for Australia and writes a book," Broad opined, reported ESPN Cricinfo.Ā
Broad, who knows a thing or two about moving the old ball, also asserted that getting reverse-swing is influenced by many factors, but insisted that it entirely is a team effort. The veteran claimed that even if something slightly goes wrong, it becomes difficult to reverse it.Ā
"I've obviously never bowled within the Australian bowling attack but I can talk about how, in an England Test team, if I miss the seam by four millimetres, Jimmy Anderson is on me. He'll be saying 'why has this ball got a mark on it here? It's because you've missed the seam! Start hitting the seam, will you'.
"Reverse swing with the red ball can be affected by so many different things. If you chase it to the boundary and throw it into the grass it can smooth the ball over and stop it reversing. If you touch the ball with wet hands it will stop it reversing. If you shine it in a way that smooths over the rough side it will stop it reversing.
"So as an England team, we are aware if we're trying to get the ball reversing every player has to buy into that or it will stop it.ā