Bancroft was banned for nine months by Cricket Australia for using sandpaper in an attempt to alter the condition of the ball in the third Test between South Africa and Australia in 2018. He, David Warner and captain Steve Smith were the only Australia players to receive sanctions from CA, but the governing body have always maintained that the investigation could be reopened if new evidence came to light.

According to findings from Cricket Australia’s investigation, “prior knowledge of the incident was confined to three players, Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft,” but they have reiterated in a statement that the investigation can be reopened if new allegations come to light.

“CA has maintained all along that if anyone is in possession of new information in regards to the Cape Town Test of 2018 they should come forward and present it,” the statement read. “The investigation conducted at the time was detailed and comprehensive. Since then, no one has presented new information to CA that casts doubt on the investigation’s findings.”

Bancroft has said that it’s “self-explanatory” that the bowlers knew at the time.

“Yeah, look, all I wanted to do was to be responsible and accountable for my own actions and part,” he said, when asked if bowlers in the team were aware of the tactics. “Yeah, obviously what I did benefits bowlers and the awareness around that, probably, is self-explanatory. I guess one thing I learnt through the journey and being responsible is that’s where the buck stops [with himself]. Had I had better awareness I would have made a much better decision.”

When asked specifically if the bowlers knew, Bancroft was quoted as replying: “Uh… yeah, look, I think, yeah, I think it’s pretty probably self-explanatory.”

Australia’s front-line attack in the Test was Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, and all three denied knowledge of what was being planned in the aftermath.

“No, no,” Hazlewood said back in 2018 when asked if he knew what was going on. “We obviously have ball maintenance people in the team, usually batsmen because they’re in the circle and the bowlers field fine leg, deep square — wherever it is. They just look after the ball from time to time. As soon as it stops swinging normal then it starts to reverse swing. We pretty much get it at the top of our mark, one second before we start running in. So we have a quick look, see which side’s a bit worn.”

Cummins also said that the first he knew of it was seeing the incriminating replays shown at the ground. “I remember seeing what happened up on the big screen and just getting a sick feeling in my stomach and just thought, ‘Oh no, what’s going on here? What’s going to happen?'” Cummins told cricket.com.au, also in 2018.

Starc made clear his frustration at Smith implicating the “leadership group”, with some news outlets reporting at the time that the leadership group included Hazlewood and Starc.

“The leadership group knew about it,” he admitted. “We spoke about it at lunch and ah, I’m not proud of what’s happened. It’s not within the spirit of the game. My integrity, the team’s integrity, the leadership group’s integrity has come into question, and rightfully so. It’s not on. It’s certainly not on and it won’t happen again, I can promise you that, under my leadership.”

Starc, speaking at a Women in Banking and Finance forum in Sydney where corporate adviser Sue Cato warned of the pitfalls awaiting those who didn’t fully plan ahead of press conferences, explained how Smith’s comments had affected his reputation.

“Going back to what Sue said before about being upfront and tackling a problem head on, that’s something the group who decided to go into a press conference didn’t really think about,” Starc said. “They obviously didn’t see how big the reaction was going to be at that time and then went down the path of not telling the whole truth and then I guess involving another group, which ruined — well, not ruined — but affected other reputations.”

The denials of knowledge could be relevant, if Bancroft’s comments do lead to an investigation by CA. He, Smith and Warner were punished as much for their cover-up of their misdeeds, with Bancroft hiding the sandpaper down his trousers, and also misrepresenting what the object was.

“I saw an opportunity to use some tape, get some granules from the rough patches on the wickets and change the condition,” he said. If Australia’s bowlers are found to not just have been involved, but also misled CA over their role in the scandal, that could have damaging consequences.