Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has been in the news for quite some time now. After taking a jibe on Michael Vaughan over the Virat Kohli-Kane Williamson debate, he now questioned the role of the Australian bowlers in the infamous ball-tampering scandal against South Africa in 2018. Notably, only three players – Cameron Bancroft, David Warner and Steve Smith had to face bans by the country’s cricket board.
Meanwhile, another controversy erupted last week when Cameron Bancroft, the one who was seen applying sandpaper in the ball on Day 3 of the third Test between South Africa and Australia, gave the hint that the Australian bowlers knew what was going on the field as well. It is also noteworthy that, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon were part of the Aussie bowling attack in that game.
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However, they recently released a joint statement on Tuesday where they claimed their innocence, saying that they did not know anything about the ball-tampering saga. But Salman Butt wasn’t convinced at all and he said that it was nearly impossible for the bowlers to not know that the ball suddenly started behaving differently after Bancroft altered its condition as well.
“It is not true that the bowl is reverse (swinging) and the bowlers do not know. There are players in the team who are responsible for making sure the bowlers get reverse swing. The aim is to keep it as shiny as possible and keep rubbing it over the passage of time and after a point, the ball starts to reverse.” said Butt.
Salman Butt further added: “It is not possible for the team or the dressing room to know that the ball is not reversing. The moment it does, we see bowlers being changed. What Flintoff said was absolutely correct that how can the bowlers, for whom the ball is prepared, not know?”
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Notably, Butt, who had also faced a ban for his role in the spot-fixing scandal, took a jibe at the probe conducted by Cricket Australia, who banned Steve Smith and David Warner from all form of cricket for a year whereas Bancroft was suspended for 9 months as well.
“Bancroft was preparing the ball. Steve Smith, the captain, knew, and even David Warner was involved. All those punished were batsmen but not even a single bowler was. I commend the person who took these decisions,” Salman Butt said.
