Australian bowlers Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon have given a joint statement on Tuesday where they explained their stand on the infamous ball-tampering scandal. They took the step after Australia opener Cameron Bancroft had said in an interview that it’s “self-explanatory” whether the bowlers knew about the matter beforehand on Day 3 of the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town in 2018. Bancroft, Steve Smith and David Warner had to serve bans after they were found guilty by Cricket Australia.

The statement read as follows:

“To The Australian Public

We pride ourselves on our honesty. So it’s been disappointing to see that our integrity has been questioned by some journalists and past players in recent days in regard to the Cape Town Test of 2018.

We have already answered questions many times on this issue, but we feel compelled to put the key facts on the record again:

We did not know a foreign substance was taken onto the field to alter the condition of the ball until we saw the images on the big screen at Newlands.

And to those who, despite the absence of evidence, insist that ‘we must have known’ about the use of a foreign substance simply because we are bowlers, we say this: The umpires during that Test match, Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth, both very respected and experienced umpires, inspected the ball after the images surfaced on the TV coverage and did not change it because there was no sign of damage.

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None of this excuses what happened on the field that day at Newlands. It was wrong and it should never have happened.

We’ve all learned valuable lessons and we’d like to think the public can see a change for the better in terms of the way we play, the way we behave and respect the game. Our commitment to improving as people and players will continue.

We respectfully request an end to the rumour-mongering and innuendo.

It has gone on too long and it is time to move on.”

However, in a recent interview with The Guardian, Bancroft had opened up on the infamous scandal that happened in 2018 and he was also caught on camera using sandpaper as well to change the condition of the ball.

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“Yeah, look, all I wanted to do was to be responsible and accountable for my own actions and part. Yeah, obviously what I did benefits bowlers and the awareness around that, probably, is self-explanatory,” Bancroft told The Guardian when asked whether any of the bowlers knew about the plan. “Uh … yeah, look, I think, yeah, I think it’s pretty probably self-explanatory.”