One of Australia’s most famous cricketers has revealed that he witnessed ball tampering by a cricket player who is now a top official.
Test player Greg Matthews claims a high-profile cricketer showed him sandpaper hidden under his thumb in 2010.
He says he examined the cricket ball, saw that it had been tampered with, and reported the matter to Cricket NSW, which, he claims, took no action.
In an exclusive interview with News24, Matthews said that fellow cricketer Stuart MacGill also witnessed this and they’ve spoken about it since.
Mathews says the player in question now holds a senior position in the cricket industry.
In the interview, Matthews also claims that ball-tampering has been an open secret and criticises Usman Khawaja for belatedly raising the matter during the promotion for his book when he’s been outspoken on so many other issues.
“It’s extremely difficult to understand the timing of the moment and the fact he’s been so forthright about trans, gay marriage, Palestine, religion, advertising on his back, writing on his shoe, religion, politics and race are three really big issues in Ussie’s life and here was his moment, sitting next to a young pup,” Matthews said.
“He could have put his hand on the kid’s leg, Cameron’s leg and said ‘don’t do this’.”
Matthews also calls the revelations a “greedy move” by Khawaja, after how well Pat Cummins had treated him.
If Cricket Australia re-opened an investigation into ball-tampering, Matthews tells News24 that he would likely co-operate, once again.
Asked if he had ever personally tampered with a cricket ball, Matthews also said he had used suncream to smooth the one side of the ball.
“I would use sunscreen….Everything is relative. You could absolutely say of course (it’s cheating) because you’re altering the ball,” he said.
He said he’s aware of other substances being used by cricket players, such as Brylcreem, the men’s hairstyling gel, or even lollypops.
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