Mitch Marsh says he is ‘not here to share his story’ on Sandpapergate
Australian captain insists the scandal is behind him as he focuses on Friday’s ODI game against England.
Mitch Marsh refused to shed any light on his own role in Australia’s ongoing sandpaper scandal, despite facing an excruciating grilling in Perth.
Marsh was a junior member of the team in South Africa in 2018 and bowled with the ball that Cameron Bancroft was seen tampering with during the Cape Town Test.
Eight years on he is captaining his country in the ODI series against England, which begins at Optus Stadium on Friday, forcing him to face reporters hungry for answers about allegations in Usman Khawaja’s new autobiography that the entire squad were culpable in the plot.
Regular skipper Pat Cummins, who has been rested from this month’s white-ball games, has called his own press conference in Sydney on Friday morning with a promise to answer Khawaja’s claims but Marsh declined his own opportunity to do so.
In an increasingly strained exchange with a Channel 7 journalist, he repeatedly swatted aside direct questions on the episode.
“There’s been a lot of noise around this week and I respect that certain people have told their stories, but I’m not here to share mine today,” he said.
“I really respect that Uzzy’s told his story, he’s written his book, (but) my focus is really on tomorrow. I’m walking out to captain my country in a really exciting series against England and that’s where my focus is at. I’m not here to go back on my recollections.”
Probed on why he would not give the public the truth, Marsh said: “My honest answer is because I’ve personally moved on, I respect that others probably haven’t, but I have and I hope that’s respected.
“My responsibility now, in this moment, is to lead this group. As I said, I’m not going back to South Africa. At the end of the day I think this is my choice to not go back there.
“As I’ve stated probably six times now, I’m not here to go through my recollections of that time. It was a really tough time for Australian cricket and I know a lot of people are still hurting, but now is not the time for me to share my story.
While insisting he was “not a big reader” and had not looked at Khawaja’s memoir, Sabr, he also teased: “Who knows, maybe I’ll write a book one day.”
Attention will now revert to Cummins, who could find his position as captain of the national team called into question when he confronts Khawaja’s claims.
He co-signed a carefully-worded statement in 2021, alongside fellow bowlers Josh Hazlewood, Mitch Starc and Nathan Lyon, calling out “rumour mongering and innuendo”. In it, the quartet said they had no knowledge that a foreign substance was being brought on to the field at Newlands but left some room for conjecture about what they were aware of.
Inviting the press to come to him, Cummins wrote on X: “I’m training at Cricket Central (in Sydney) tomorrow morning before the Blues play in the Shield match.
“Happy to speak with any and all media about the events of this week at 9.30 am. I’ve taken some time to try and better understand the long list and full extent of Uzzy’s allegations so I can respond properly. Afterwards please stay and support the Blues! I’ll ask CA (Cricket Australia) to send out details.”