It’s been three long years since the ball-tampering scandal ruined the global reputation of Australian cricket. While much has changed in the world since then, it seems that the shame of the sporting moment is here to stay.

This is because the Australian batter Cameron Bancroft recently went on record to say that some of the team’s bowlers had an understanding that sandpaper would be used to tamper with the ball. Such a shocking statement would go against the belief that the cheating activity was restricted to Bancroft, David Warner and Steve Smith who were each given lengthy bans for their behaviour.

However, the bowlers who played in the infamous Test match against South Africa in 2018 have fought back by saying that they didn’t have any knowledge that there were plans to tamper with the cricket ball. In a joint statement, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins said that they wanted to end ‘the rumour-mongering and innuendo,’ and that it was ‘time to move on.’

Such claims fought back at the allegations made in Bancroft’s interview in The Guardian, but if anything, the whole thing is looking to spiral out of control again. This is because Cricket Australia was quick to contact Bancroft to see whether the cricketer had any further previously undisclosed information about the ball-tampering scandal.

Cricket Australia was the organisation that handed the nine-month ban to Bancroft, and it has clearly felt that it has to use the toughest measures to overcome one of the biggest scandals to hit the sport.

Cricket remains hugely popular across the nation and there’s been a rapid growth in the number of betting sites. In a review of bet365 by captaingambling, cricket fans will be able to see that sites like this are established on the premise of giving them fair and honest odds for their online gambling experience. But with the reputation of Australia’s cricket team still being suspect, it’s going to be a long time before things return to normal.

A chance for redemption?

While Australia’s cricketers still seem to be divided in certain areas, it can’t mask the fact that the national team have some big games coming up. Australia’s confidence will still be shaken by that India Test series of December 2020. This saw India pulling off the most unlikely cricketing victory despite the fact that Australia’s bowlers had skittled out the visitors for just 36 in the second innings of the opening Test.

The fact that Australia could go on to lose this series led many to believe that Australia have somehow lost their nerve in recent years. With India winning the series despite the absence of key player Virat Kohli for many of the games, it suggests that there are many things that Australia needs to work on. Plus a recent T20 international series defeat by New Zealand hinted that things need to get better soon.

Australia face a series of one-day internationals this summer that begins with a five-game T20 international series against the West Indies on 10 July. Given the lack of recent form from the West Indies, the limited-overs series could help to distract attention away from the ball-tampering scandal once more. From here, there’ll be a further three one-day internationals against the West Indies, before Sri Lanka comes to tour Australia for three T20 matches in October.

However, the real action takes place when England travel to Australia for The Ashes between November 2021 and January 2022. The schedule for the five-match series has just been announced and it’s expected to be another gripping instalment of cricket entertainment. It remains to be seen whether the ball-tampering scandal is old news by then, but one thing’s for sure and that’s that the English visitors won’t let Australia forget about this deeply embarrassing moment in the nation’s sporting history.