Sorry for getting caught

Remember the little spot of trouble some Australian cricketers got themselves into earlier this year?

Well, the first of the bans is coming to an end and Cameron Bancroft is doing the obligatory media interviews to rehabilitate his career.

Here’s the transcript where he chucks the pantomime villain, Diddy Davey Warner, under a bus.

There’s some cracking cognitive dissonance going on;

………I take no other responsibility but the responsibility I have on myself and my own actions, because I am not a victim – I had a choice, and I made a massive mistake. And that’s what’s in my control.

Adam Gilchrist: Who was it who asked you to do it?

Cameron Bancroft: At the time, Dave (Warner) suggested to me to carry the action out on the ball, given the situation we were in the game. I didn’t know any better. I didn’t know any better because I just wanted to fit in and feel valued, really. Simple as that.

Okaaaaaay.

Being “accountable” seems important to everyone these days;

CB: I actually went in and apologised to the umpires, and I just said, look, I’m really sorry for carrying this out in the game, I’m really ashamed of the actions in itself and it won’t happen again. That’s something that I wanted to do for the game and for, the making up for the mistake – I’m not making up for it, really am I? But I am being accountable for what I did and that was exactly the most important thing for me.

And;

I think, in hindsight, the thing that I was actually proud of in that moment was the fact that Steve and I wanted to be accountable and I guess, really honest about our actions.

Except, this is awkward;

AG: Just on that, you weren’t sure how wide-ranging this was going to be, is that what led you to say in the press that it was the tape instead of (sandpaper), with a bit of dirt on it?

CB: That’s actually really interesting that, because I obviously, … I lied about it, which is the truth, but for me, the whole issue I felt got forgotten about. The issue was actually the fact that I went out with an intentional decision to tamper the ball and I felt like that was forgotten a little bit because people cared what I used on the ball more than the actual reason behind why I was using it.

Bill’s Opinion

No, Cameron, people were upset that;

1. You did it, and

2. When caught on camera, you still didn’t confess to the full crime.

The interview is a tedious bunch of psychobabble and touchy-feely bollocks, but such is a lot of Australian elite sport these days; screw up, forget about trying to be a decent human being and, after the scandal, claim redemption to save your career.

It would have been a more honest interview if he’d have simply said, “Look, I was the junior in the team and was too weak to say no and, then when I was caught, I thought I could lie about how bad it was“.

It’ll be fun to see how this plays out for Warner though. Cricket Australia should definitely let him play the Edgbaston test against England next year; 20,000 drunk Brummies are going to utterly destroy him with songs and jeering.