Scott Boland has pushed back against Usman Khawaja's claims about ball-tampering in Victorian domestic cricket, saying he never witnessed anything improper during his time with the state side. The Australia fast bowler's response comes after Khawaja alleged that Victoria's players were particularly skilled at manipulating the condition of the ball during the 2000s and 2010s.
Usman. Khawaja's comments have attracted fresh attention following his revelations about the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal in South Africa. His autobiography, Sabr, also discusses the use of unconventional methods to generate reverse swing in domestic cricket. However, Scott Boland has questioned the suggestion that such practices were common in the Victorian dressing room, while insisting that he had not seen anything untoward.
Khawaja's allegations go beyond the controversy surrounding Australia's 2018 tour of South Africa. In Sabr, the former opener has described how Victorian players allegedly worked on the ball to encourage reverse swing, particularly at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where he felt conventional methods were not always enough to produce results.
He suggested that players used different ways to rough up the ball while keeping one side relatively shiny. Khawaja also recalled situations in which the fielding side would look for opportunities to work on the ball when it went out of play. He acknowledged that he did not personally scratch or tamper with the ball, but admitted that he knew about such practices and did not oppose them.
Usman Khawaja also referred to former Australia fast bowler and Victorian bowling coach Mick Lewis, recalling an incident in which Lewis was caught on camera scraping the ball in a gutter after it had been hit for a boundary. He argued that such conduct was not unusual in the domestic cricket environment of that period.
Scott Boland contradicts Usman Khawaja over ball tampering in Victorian cricket
Scott Boland, who made his first-class debut for Victoria in 2011, was asked about Khawaja's allegations and appeared unconvinced by the description of the state's former players as experts in the so-called dark arts. While acknowledging that questionable practices might take place in cricket without close monitoring, he said his own experience with Victoria had been different.
The fast bowler also pointed to the decline of reverse swing in recent years, suggesting that changes in the game have made it less prominent than it once was. Boland maintained that he had not personally witnessed any attempt to illegally alter the ball's condition during his time with the Victorian team.
"Yeah, I don’t know what the dark arts are," Boland said with a laugh.
"I think in general the last 10 years, probably since Cape Town, reverse swing has really gone out of the game. I don’t know, if you went back to club cricket without cameras, you’d probably see a lot of things that would happen. From my point of view, I haven’t really seen anything untoward," Scott Boland said.
I can’t see it being too much of a distraction - Scott Boland on Sandpapergate talks
Scott Boland does not expect the renewed discussion around Sandpapergate to affect Australia's preparations for the upcoming summer. Australia are looking to respond after their series defeat to South Africa, with New Zealand set to visit for a Test series beginning in Perth on December 9.
The pacer believes the time that has passed since the Cape Town controversy should help the players keep their attention on cricket.
“I can’t see it being too much of a distraction, it was eight years ago, the guys have played a lot of Test cricket since then. I don’t see it being too big of a distraction," Scott Boland said.
Also Read: "100 per cent accurate": David Warner backs Usman Khawaja's Sandpapergate claims
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