“An hour or two later he rang, explaining that not only had Mark Waugh been fined 8,000 in Australian dollars ... but Shane Warne had been fined $10,000 for the same offence. I was gobsmacked. Warne too!
“The fines had been imposed in a small airport room before the team flew out to the West Indies in 1995 by then ACB chairman Alan Crompton and chief executive Graham Halbish, who later announced the decision to a board meeting and instituted a cover-up.
“All hell broke loose when the story broke. Waugh and Warne ... read prepared statements at a press conference, saying they had been naive and stupid. They did not answer questions.”
It is not too hard to see CA covering up and letting go only when it had to. It may well be happening again. The three players have expressed their guilt only when they had to, and their interaction with media has led to more questions rather than fewer because they avoided questions blatantly.
Bancroft was asked if it was unusual to take sandpaper out on to the field. His answer: “Look, I am not here to comment about that ... it’s embarrassing, and I’m truly sorry.”
Warner was pressed time and again but remained evasive ... almost self-incriminatingly evasive. Here are excerpts:
“Can you, hand on your heart, say no other players or coaches knew about your plot?”
“I am here today to accept my responsibility for my part, my involvement for what happened in Cape Town. It’s inexcusable. I’m deeply sorry. As I said, I’ll do everything I can to earn that respect back from the Australian public.”
“Did you orchestrate this scandal? Was it your idea?”
“As I said, I am here to take full responsibility for the part that I played in this. It’s extremely regrettable, I’m very sorry.”
“Can you, hand on heart, say you have never done this before?”
“As I said before, I’m here to accept my responsibility for my part that I played on day three [of] Cape Town Test.”
“Do you feel you’re being made a scapegoat? You’re holding back with some of your answers.”
“As I said before, I am here to speak about myself, and take responsibility for the part I played in this. Thank you.”
It would be naive to assume that the world already knows what is there to be known of the scandal. They may have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar and with their pants down, but the words and actions of these sanctimonious scoundrels — both among the players and within CA — have enough to keep everyone interested.
humair.ishtiaq@gmail.com
Published in Dawn, EOS, April 8th, 2018