The Australian cricket team has taken a lead of 1-0 in the ongoing Ashes 2021-22 after defeating the England cricket team by 9 wickets in the first test match that was played at Gabba. However, the Barmy Army didn’t miss the chance of making fun of the Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood by bringing back the ghost of sandpapergate scandal out of the box.
Till now, the cricketers were not allowed to engage in any interaction with the spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic but now the situation has improved considerably because of which the cricketers are allowed to give autographs to fans. On the fourth day of the test match, Josh Hazlewood was signing autographs for fans and one Barmy Army member took his autograph on a paper on which there was hidden text at the bottom which read, “I Joshua ‘Joshie’ Hazlewood do solemnly swear that I knew it was sandpaper.”
Obviously, the Aussie cricketer was unaware of it and it came into limelight when the Barmy Army posted it on their official Twitter handle with the caption, “Josh Hazlewood just signed this on the boundary, we knew it” with the laughing emoji.
Josh Hazlewood just signed this on the boundary, we knew it 🤣#Ashes pic.twitter.com/Nvx5Llz7ut
— England's Barmy Army 🏴🎺 (@TheBarmyArmy) December 11, 2021
The tweet referred to the infamous sandpapergate scandal which took place in 2018 when Australia was on the tour to South Africa. During a test match, the Aussie cricketers were found using sandpaper for the purpose of changing the shape of the ball in order to help their bowlers. Three Australian cricketers Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were found guilty and while Smith and Warner were banned for 1 year, Bancroft was banned for nine months.
While the Aussie bowlers who were a part of the team at that time refused to have any information about it, Cameron Bancroft in an interview claimed that the Aussie bowlers were aware of it as it was done for their benefit.
Josh Hazlewood was also a part of the team at that time and he also refused to have any information about the use of any external material by his teammates.
Though the Australians have won the first test match, this tweet has left a bitter taste in their mouth. Do you think that the Aussie bowlers had full knowledge of what was happening in the 2018 test match or not? Let us know your views.
