Australian spin wizard Shane Warne lashed out at Cricket Australia (CA) for recent controversies surrounding the men’s cricket team. He also hinted at a coverup of the sandpaper gate, ball-tampering scandal being related to Justin Langer’s resignation as the Australia head coach.
Justin Langer’s name has been hogging the headlines for quite some time now. With his contract ending in June 2022, he was offered a six-month extension till the T20 World Cup 2022 at home, but the 51-year-old rejected the offer and resigned with immediate effect.
Langer’s decision was influenced by the reports of the board and some of the current players and members of support staff not being in favor of him continuing further.
The infamous sandpaper gate scandal in 2018 was one of the darkest days in Australian cricket. Cameron Bancroft was caught using a piece of yellow sandpaper on the ball in the Newlands Test against South Africa.
He along with then skipper Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were banned from the game for 9 months and one year each respectively.
Read Also: Adam Gilchrist hits out at Cricket Australia for painting Justin Langer as ‘monster’
Speaking on the Follow-on podcast, Shane Warne questioned whether CA knows the "actual" truth about sandpaper gate or if they are "hiding anything". He even chastised the bowling group for giving themselves names like 'cartel' and 'Winx'.
"We still don't know the truth about what actually happened at Sandpapergate. Does Cricket Australia know the truth? Do they? Do the same people know the truth about Sandpapergate? Are they hiding anything?
“We've seen that the bowling cartel, as they call themselves, or 'Winx' and 'GOAT' and all these unbelievable nicknames they have for themselves. These guys wrote a letter saying they had no knowledge of whatever went on," Shane Warne said.
Warne said that there have been many rumors regarding the sandpaper gate but the truth will come out one day.
"That might be correct. But if it's not and they've done that, there are all sorts of whispers or rumors that we all have heard. And one day the truth will come out. Does Cricket Australia know the truth? Is it the truth that we've heard? Why should Smith and Warner be the only two? Who knows. But the truth will come out," he said.
Warne said that if Cricket Australia is hiding something again after the exits of Justin Langer and Tim Paine, then they could lash out at the board for messing up and handling the controversies in the wrong way.
He remarked that the governing body knew about Tim Paine’s sexting scandal and still allowed him to captain the side and when it became public, they ‘threw him under the bus’.
"If Cricket Australia are hiding something again after Justin Langer Tim Paine, we could go on about all the controversies that Cricket Australia has just bungled, messed up and handled completely wrong.
“They knew about Tim Paine and still allowed him to captain Australia and swept it under the carpet. When someone found out they just threw him under the bus. What is this organization doing," he said.
Australia will next be seen in action when they will tour Pakistan in March for three Tests, three ODIs, and one T20I.
(ANI inputs)
