Former English skipper, Michael Vaughan has opined that the Australian bowlers might have potentially known about the condition of the ball during the infamous 2018 Cape Town Test against South Africa but he also added that now is the time to “move on” from the Sandpaper Gate scandal as it was put to rest.

In his recent tweet regarding the Sandpapergate scandal, Michael Vaughan wrote: “So the bowlers potentially knew about the ball in Cape Town !!! Of course they did but surely that episode has been put to bed a long time ago … Let’s move on … #OnOn.”

So the bowlers potentially knew about the ball in Cape Town !!! Of course they did but surely that episode has been put to bed a long time ago … Let’s move on … #OnOn

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) May 17, 2021

Vaughan’s comments evoked mixed reactions from the fans. Some of them opened that he is suggesting teh right thing to move on as the scandal was a thing of the past while others put a scrutiny on the bowlers having the knowledge of the fiasco.

Here are some of the reactions of the fans on Vaughan’s comment: 

More would know probably. Warner stopped being in charge of ball maintenance suddenly. The actual event was so clumsy and ill conceived it bordered on pathetic. Umpires didn’t even see evidence of tampering on the ball right? The act in trying was enough and punishment ensured.

— Chris Rose (@paperless_books) May 17, 2021

Love how your views divide people Michael . I totally agree with this one let’s move on now . I’m an Englishman but the reaction over all this was over the top at the time so let’s not dig it up again .

— Duncan bond (@Duncanbond7) May 17, 2021

Nonsense. This shows CA took the easy option & effectively turned a blind eye to collective cheating thus leaving scope for it to continue.

— S N Pearse. (Steve) (@1StevePearse) May 17, 2021

I always found it odd that it was only batsmen who were named and shamed. It was for the benefit of the bowlers. They must have known, but it seems pointless to drag it up again now.

— Alison Brennan (@alison_brennan_) May 17, 2021

https://twitter.com/Peterm5757/status/1394194793589317632?s=20

The bowlers knew about it in all the matches they cheated in up to the Cape Town Test too. Only got caught in Cape Town been going on for a while you’d suspect.

— Cookiey (@MattCookiey) May 17, 2021

In March 2018, Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera making an attempt of tampering with the condition of the ball using sandpaper in a Test match against South Africa in Cape Town. 

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Bancroft, who is playing county cricket in Durham, said it was ”probably self-explanatory” whether the bowlers were well aware of the fact that the ball was being tampered with.

During a recent chat with ESPNCricinfo, Bancroft had said, “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.I guess one thing I learned through the journey and being responsible is that’s where the buck stops [with Bancroft himself]. Had I had better awareness I would have made a much better decision.”

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When he was further pressed on whether the bowlers were informed about the ball-tampering plan, Bancroft replied: “Uh… yeah, look, I think, yeah, I think it’s pretty probably self-explanatory.”