Embattled Australian cricketer Cameron Bancroft admitted that he panicked and subsequently lied in a South African press conference attempting to explain the ball tampering affair.
Bancroft, who has been banned for nine months alongside Steve Smith and David Warner (both 12 months) had initially told reporters in Cape Town that he used tape to rough up the ball’s surface during the third Test.
“I lied. I lied about the sandpaper. I panicked in that situation,” said Bancroft at another press conference in Perth on Thursday afternoon.
Bancroft said he has yet to determine whether he’ll appeal the ban, something that was foreshadowed in an earlier press release by the Australian Cricketers’ Association which savaged Cricket Australia’s handling of the matter.
“I will work with my manager and work through that,” he said.
The Mamamia Out Loud team discuss what the Cricket Australia scandal means for us as a nation. Post continues.
Bancroft refused to discuss Warner – who had orchestrated the ball tampering – but went on to re-iterate deep regret for his own actions.
“It is something I will regret for the rest of my life,” he said.
“All I can do is ask for forgiveness … I will do my best to contribute to the community.
“I have never ever been involved in tampering with the ball (before now) and it clearly compromises my values and what I stand for as a player and as a person.”
He said the toughest thing was knowing that he given up his “spot in the team for free.”
“People know I worked so hard to get to this point in my career and to have given up that chance for free is devastating,” Bancroft said.
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