Australia bowlers issue statement in ball-tampering row: Did not know foreign substance was taken onto field

Cameron Bancroft stirred up fresh controversy last week after hinting that the Australian bowlers were aware that their players were tampering with the ball during the 2018 Cape Town Test against South Africa.

Australian bowlers who were a part of the ill-fated 2018 Cape Town Test against South Africa issued a joint statement on Tuesday, once again pleading their innocence in the ball-tampering saga after Cameron Bancroft's latest comments stirred up reignited the controversy last week. Australia's bowling attack comprised for pacers Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and off-spinner Nathan Lyon but they have always maintained that they had no knowledge of Cameron Bancroft, Steve Smith and David Warner's plan to tamper with the ball to assist the bowlers on Day 3 of the third Test on March 24, 2018. But Bancroft, who was banished for 9 months for using sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball, stirred up fresh controversy after hinting in a recent interview that the Aussie bowlers were also aware that ball-tampering tactics were being deployed by their players in the Newlands Test.