Australian opening batsman Cameron Bancroft landed himself at the center of a ball-tampering controversy on Saturday when he was caught on camera appearing to hide a foreign object down his trousers, moments before the umpires came to question him about working on the ball.
While fielding on Day 3 of the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town, Bancroft was seen rubbing his hands over the ball shortly before the Tea break.
As umpires Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth met mid-pitch to discuss the incident, Bancroft was then seen appearing to take a small, yellow object out of his pocket and drop it down his trousers.
When questioned by the umpires, Bancroft pulled a black sunglasses cover out of his pocket.
Here are the videos:
Wow so stupid! Cameron Bancroft, why, oh why? #SAvAUS #Sandpapergate pic.twitter.com/ZxNyq8yJ5V
— Vishal S S Mehra (@weshalltalkcric) March 24, 2018
Enjoy the rest of your holiday in South Africa @cbancroft4 ✌🏼 pic.twitter.com/CTVBxB3ajF
— Simon Harmer (@Simon_Harmer_) March 24, 2018
The umpires took no action and did not change the ball. There were boos from a capacity crowd at Newlands when the incident was shown on the big screen at the ground
