'To Blame Warner Entirely For Sandpaper Gate Pretty Naive' - Katich

image-lqxep9ouWarner was one of the masterminds of the Sandpaper Gate (Twitter)

Simon Katich finds it unfair to blame veteran opener David Warner entirely for the Newlands 2018 ball-tampering scandal, which rocked Australian cricket hard to its core and raised doubts and question marks on the playing culture sustained Down Under. 

The former Test opener understands why the fans and some of the prominent names of Australian cricket haven't forgiven the extravagant left-hander for being one of the masterminds of Australia's sandpaper tactics in the Cape Town Test. 

However, Katich doesn't believe Warner alone should continue to bear the brunt of voices that haven't forgotten the dreadful afternoon in the third Test of the infamous series in South Africa when Cameron Bancroft was caught by SuperSports camera team rubbing sandpaper on the cricket ball. 

Later on, the controversial ploy was found to have been chosen at the behest of the then skipper Steve Smith and vice-captain Warner. The trio were given massive flak by the Australian public and faced respective bans imposed by Cricket Australia (CA). 


Katich Defends Warner Amidst Fresh Cape Town Talks 

Warner's role and responsibility in the entire fiasco became a talking point again recently when former teammate Mitchell Johnson alleged the outgoing cricketer for not owning it. In his column for The West Australian, Johnson grind an exe with the southpaw by stating he has never truly owned his responsibility in the ball-tampering scandal. 

"I think it’s hard to say ‘full respect’ because I think there is always going to be an element of the public that didn’t like what happened, and rightfully so," Katich told SEN Sportsday NSW. 

"A lot of us couldn’t believe what the Australian team resorted to. But I think to blame him entirely for that whole episode is pretty naive."

Katich even lauded Warner for overcoming the entire controversy with grit after facing backlash and nasty remarks about his character in the aftermath of the Sandpaper Gate. 

"I think in time, I’ve got no doubt there will be more said about it. He took the wrap along with Cameron Bancroft and Steve Smith but I think, the public feel there was more to it than just those three," Katich said.


"At the time, I think what he did was he kept his mouth shut after the initial apology and then got on with trying to go back out there and try to play as good as cricket as he possibly could. That wouldn’t have been easy to do." 

"What’s done is done but for David to be able to get back to where he got to after such an enormous event like it was in Cape Town… it was significant to think that he was able to get back and play good cricket after that event," he added. 


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