Bancroft, who has served all but two days of his nine-month ban for ball-tampering, placed the blame for the Newlands scandal heavily on the shoulders of David Warner during a conversation with Fox Sports, which was broadcast on Boxing Day
Two former Australia stars have criticised Cameron Bancroft for his answers in a controversial interview.
Bancroft, who has served all but two days of his nine-month ban for ball-tampering, placed the blame for the Newlands scandal heavily on the shoulders of David Warner during a conversation with Fox Sports, which was broadcast on Boxing Day.
In it, the 26-year-old said he "didn't know any better" other than to carry out the plan to use sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball, which he said was Warner's brainchild.
The comments have not gone down well with many in the Australian cricket community, including former captain Ricky Ponting.
He told Channel Seven: "I just don't think he had to say some of the things he had to say to be honest.
"I am not too sure how happy the players will be about it, or how happy Cricket Australia will be about it," said Ponting.
Cameron Bancroft's ban ends this weekend
"I was very disappointed about the timing of it."
Ex-Aussie opener Michael Slater was of a similar opinion, claiming that the leading figures in the game Down Under "are all running some kind of strategy to try and regain respect from the public and the players".
"In those comments he has buried David Warner," he said.
Bancroft is eligible to return to domestic action on Sunday when Perth Scorchers face Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash.
"Dave suggested to me to carry the action out on the ball given the situation we were in the game and I didn’t know any better,” Bancroft said in his Fox Sports interview.
"I didn’t know any better because I just wanted to fit in and feel valued really. As simple as that.
"The decision was based around my values, what I valued at the time and I valued fitting in… you hope that fitting in earns you respect and with that, I guess, there came a pretty big cost for the mistake."
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Posted by Mike Brewer on 27/12/2018 at 09:09
Pathetic comments from Bancroft. Playing the victim, that he was only trying to fit in and knew no better. What about his own moral compass? What about respect for the game? What about the life lessons he will have learned from his parents, his teachers, his coaches? People should see through his thinly veiled contrition to the weak willed accomplice he became.
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