Ball Tempering: The Sandpaper Saga

June 19, 2020

Ball-tempering is a technique in the sport of cricket where the condition of the cricket ball is tempered. The condition of the ball is changed using foreign objects which can toughen the ball. Ball-tampering is pure science used to change the condition of the ball so that when the ball gets old and losses its shine then also it swings but in an unconventional way.

The unconventional swing in cricketing terms is known as “Reverse Swing”. When a ball is tempered, it is tempered in a specific way. One side of the ball is made tough by some foreign object and the other side’s shine is maintained by applying saliva on it. When saliva is applied, the ball becomes heavy from one side, and because of it, the ball swings in the air at the last moment. This is called the reverse swing of a cricket ball.

The technique of reverse swing was invented by Pakistani bowlers i.e. Sarfraz Nawaz and Imran Khan. These bowlers first showcased their new talent in the test series of 1982-83 versus India. In this series, Khan took 40 wickets in 5 tests using his art of reverse swing. Initially, both of them got criticized and were called cheats but with time reserve swing bowling was accepted all over the world but ball tempering is still an offense.

Many well-known and famous players of the cricketing fraternity have been accused of tempering the ball. Some of them were also punished by their respective cricketing board or by the ICC. Generally, punishment for the offense of ball-tempering is a deduction of some percentage of the match fees or the player gets banned for one or two matches. Even legend players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Waqar Younis, Shahid Afridi, Michael Atherton, Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, and Faf du Plessis have been accused of ball tempering. Some of them were found guilty and had to pay the price but the most controversial ball-tampering saga was the Sand Paper Gate.

The SandPaper Gate happened in the test series between South Africa and Australia. Australia was touring South Africa for the test series in 2018. It was 3^rd test match of the series, the score-line was 1 – 1. Television cameras caught Australian opener Camron Bancroft using some foreign object on the ball. That object was sandpaper.

Bancroft hiding sandpaper, when he got caught.

The Australian team was accused of ball-tampering, and in no time the news about sandpaper incident spread like fire all over the world. After the days play, Australian skipper Steve Smith came to the press conference and took all the bullets on him and said it was a collective decision of the team management. Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft were accused. ICC fined Bancroft 75% of his match fees and Smith was banned for one test match. But the saga wasn’t over yet.

The Australia team was called cheats in the media all over the world. Thereafter Australian Government got in and the then Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull took hold of the situation and told Cricket Australia to take strict actions to set up an example.

The 3 accused players were flown back to Australia in between the series.

Smith dragged by security personals at Jo'burg Airport.

Smith and Warner were banned for one year from all forms of cricket and Bancroft was banned for 9 months for the same. Their annual contacts were terminated. Brands took their contracts away. They were not allowed to play any domestic and T20 league. Smith and Warner also didn’t feature in 2018’s edition of IPL. All of them lost a fair share of money and fame.

Australia Cricket team was criticized and booed wherever they played thereafter till the Ashes 2019. The ashes were played in England, the pleasure was high and all the odds were against but Steve Smith single-handedly regained the Ashes for his team and earned his repute back.