Sandpapergate: What Happened in Australia’s Ball-Tampering Scandal

What happened in the Cape Town Test?

During the third Test against South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town in March 2018, television cameras showed Australian batter Cameron Bancroft trying to rough up one side of the match ball with sandpaper. Altering a ball’s surface to affect its movement is known as ball tampering. ⁴

The incident became known as Sandpapergate. The footage showed Bancroft handling the sandpaper and later hiding it in his clothing. The match and the images quickly became a major scandal for Australian cricket. ¹²

Who was involved, and what happened to them?

Cricket Australia found that captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were involved, and sanctioned both along with Bancroft. The three players were banned. The supplied sources do not give a complete account of each individual sanction’s terms, so this explainer does not set out specific ban lengths. ¹⁴

Coach Darren Lehmann was not found to have been directly involved, according to the historical account provided, but announced he would step down. Tim Paine replaced Smith as captain. ⁴

How did Cricket Australia investigate the incident?

Cricket Australia sent investigators to South Africa after the incident. A 2026 report in the Sydney Morning Herald says the investigation was completed in under 100 hours and that only selected witnesses were questioned. It also recounts that chief executive James Sutherland addressed the media before consulting Smith. ¹

Those details are part of current criticism of the inquiry, not proof by themselves that its conclusions were wrong. The available sources do not provide the full investigation report, a complete witness list or the underlying evidence. ¹

Why is Sandpapergate being discussed again?

Recent coverage revisits the scandal as Australia returns to Test cricket in South Africa, the country where the 2018 incident took place. A Guardian account says a planned 2021 Test tour was cancelled during the pandemic period, delaying another Test visit. ³

The renewed discussion is not only about Bancroft’s actions. The Guardian and the Sydney Morning Herald both raise the question of whether the full truth about what happened, including who knew what, has been established. ¹³

What questions remain unanswered?

The sources provided do not settle how much each person around the team knew before Bancroft was caught, or whether everyone with relevant information was questioned. Those are central questions in recent commentary, but the supplied reporting does not present a complete new investigation that resolves them. ¹³

That distinction matters: a call for more answers is not the same as evidence proving a wider conspiracy. Readers can say what the camera footage showed and what Cricket Australia did, while recognising that the record available here leaves some questions open. ¹²³⁴