Sandpapergate Was Caught By 'An Absolute Fluke' — The TV Director Behind The Footage Finally Explains How

Eight years on, the man who directed the TV coverage that blew up one of cricket's biggest scandals has a confession: it was basically luck.

With Australia heading back to South Africa for their first Test series there since Sandpapergate, BBC Sport has spoken to Alvin Naicker, who directed SuperSport's live broadcast from Newlands that day. His verdict? "The way the Australians were caught was an absolute fluke."

The Tea ☕

• Australia's first Test series in South Africa since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal kicks off in Durban on Friday, per Sky Sports.
• The broadcast director says a string of lucky breaks exposed Cameron Bancroft.
• Smith, Warner and Bancroft were all banned. Smith says he's tried to "erase" most of 2018 from his memory.

Not One Fluke. A WHOLE CHAIN Of Them

According to Naicker, the plan itself was hatched at lunch on day three of the third Test, and the cameras weren't even hunting for cheating. Nobody had flagged it to him, despite two bad-tempered Tests beforehand.

Then the dominoes fell:

• A camera operator stayed on Bancroft when most would have looked elsewhere.
• Bancroft was rubbing the ball on his palm rather than his trousers, and the zoom lens followed his hand into his pocket.
• A slow-mo operator spooled the footage back and forth and spotted a yellow spot.
• The replay hit the stadium's big screen at a moment between deliveries, not during the ad-break part of the over.

Bancroft later admitted he "panicked" when he saw himself on that screen, and, as BBC Sport recounts, tucked the sandpaper into his trousers. SuperSport caught that too. Yes, really.

The Umpire, The Director, And A Very Tense Walkie-Talkie

Naicker says his phone was "WhatsApping off the hook" as people around the world begged him to show the replay again. At one point, the third umpire Ian Gould reportedly asked him to stop airing it.

Naicker's reply, by his own account: he was comfortable doing his job and Gould should do his. Ice. Cold.

Meanwhile, on the field, Bancroft turned out his pockets and produced only a black sunglasses bag. The ball wasn't changed and no penalty runs were given, but TV viewers already knew what they'd seen, according to BBC Sport.

The Fallout (Which Was HUGE)

As Sky Sports lays out, Warner was found to have led the plot and got a one-year ban plus a leadership ban. Smith also got 12 months, and Bancroft nine. Coach Darren Lehmann was cleared of involvement but resigned after the series.

Australia lost the Cape Town Test by 322 runs, then the fourth by 492 as the series ended 3-1.

Naicker says watching Smith in tears afterwards was the hardest part: "That was not nice and never the intention." He also says his team faced accusations of bias, but he'd have run the same footage if South Africa had been the ones caught.

Will The Aussies Get Heckled?

Smith has told News Corp, per Sky, that the episode was "a traumatic experience" and that he's tried to block much of it out. Former Proteas all-rounder Shaun Pollock reckons the reception won't be "overly hostile", though he expects a few fans to turn up dressed as sandpaper. Honestly, iconic.

So... Fluke Or Fate?

A single lingering camera changed the careers of three of Australia's biggest names.

Should fans leave the sandpaper costumes at home this series, or is it fair game? Sound off below.

Sources: BBC Sport | Sky Sports