Australia's Test bowlers conveniently overlooked the fact that they'd been implicated by a teammate when complaining about fresh scrutiny over the ball-tampering scandal.
So says former Australian captain Michael Clarke, an obvious target of a pointed statement from Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon.
"We pride ourselves on our honesty. So it's been disappointing to see that our integrity has been questioned by some journalists and past players in recent days in regard to the Cape Town Test of 2018," the statement said.
Clarke said that it was "impossible" that only Cameron Bancroft, David Warner and Steve Smith had any idea what was going on as 'Sandpapergate' unfolded. He said that the bowlers had to have known the ball was being altered, making the comment after Bancroft told The Guardian: "Yeah, obviously what I did benefits bowlers and the awareness around that, probably, is self-explanatory."
Clarke responded to the bowlers' statement on Wednesday, saying that they could not simply pass off the revived scrutiny as media chatter.
"I knew when I made my comments about what Cameron Bancroft's quotes were it was more than likely going to offend certain people," Clarke said on Sky Sports Radio.
"It certainly was not done personally from my perspective, particularly with the four bowlers concerned; I'm good friends with all of them.
"I think there have been a number of people, past players, journalists who have made comments based on what Cameron Bancroft said and then what David Saker, the bowling coach, as well had said. I think that is what's really important after seeing the joint statement.
"The one thing that stands out for mine in that statement [is] they forgot how this conversation was brought up.
"It was comments from a teammate, Cameron Bancroft, who was involved in the situation and then quotes from David Saker who was the bowling coach at the time. After journalists and past players like myself, Adam Gilchrist and Stuart Broad, a current player, had seen what was said and written, a lot of people have made comments.
"I think those guys and Cricket Australia need to remember how this conversation has been brought up, so in their statement they should have added where it says, 'We pride ourselves on our honesty. So it's been disappointing to see that our integrity has been questioned by some journalists and past players' … you probably should have put, current teammate who was there at the time and did the crime and bowling coach who was there too. You probably left two people out.
"This statement is very smartly worded and written, so I'm not going to sit here and continue to talk about every word in that statement.
"I've said what I've said. It certainly was not personal towards them. I said what I said because that's what I believe."
Clarke said he was worried that Bancroft, who declined to provide Cricket Australia with any further information, would now be blacklisted for selection. He has played two Tests since, in the 2019 Ashes, but is currently out of the team for form reasons.
"My concern more importantly is for Cameron Bancroft," Clarke said.
"I hope from his perspective he doesn't get that big black cross against his name now. I think he would have, knowing Cam, spoken to the bowlers and Cricket Australia to make sure they understood what he was trying to avoid saying has caused this to stir up, and hope from his sake he is welcomed back into that team with open arms.
"If there is more to the story, it is coming out."
The bowlers emphatically denied any knowledge or involvement in the ball-tampering scandal, for which Bancroft, Warner and Smith served playing bans.
"We did not know a foreign substance was taken onto the field to alter the condition of the ball until we saw the images on the big screen at Newlands," their statement said.
"And to those who, despite the absence of evidence, insist that 'we must have known' about the use of a foreign substance simply because we are bowlers, we say this: The umpires during that Test match, Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth, both very respected and experienced umpires, inspected the ball after the images surfaced on the TV coverage and did not change it because there was no sign of damage.
"We respectfully request an end to the rumour-mongering and innuendo. It has gone on too long and it is time to move on."
Warner's manager, James Erskine, said this week that the banned trio of players were "treated despicably" in a "joke" probe from Cricket Australia. He warned that "eventually the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, will come out and I know the whole truth".
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