Thinking Out LoudPontius Pilate’s “What is truth?”, cynically asked of Jesus at his trial, is a question that has echoed down through the ages, all the way to the screens of Australian cricket fans this week.
Eight years after the ball tampering scandal in South Africa, recently retired Usman Khawaja has appeared in the media claiming that, yes, despite all the protestations to the contrary, and only Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft copping the punishments, the whole team including bowlers, batters, and staff were in on it all along.
The sandpaper incident was regarded as a shameful day in Australian cricket history. Whatever grey areas existed in the process of managing to get an old ball to reverse swing, taking sandpaper onto the field to achieve it was a bridge too far.
The four bowlers from that Test who remain the topline attack and some of the most loved players, insist they knew nothing of the incident involving the infamous yellow tape.
In sport, breaking the team code is clearly not something you can do easily while playing, hence Khawaja’s years-long delay in breaking his silence, something he is understandably being criticised for. The media are now asking probing questions of the bowlers and their denials. Public opinion seems to be: some of the players might have technically been able to claim deniability. But were they completely innocent?
In his forthcoming autobiography Khawaja quotes Jesus: “The truth will set you free”. Did others, including Khawaja, miss their window immediately after the incident to gain that hard-won freedom by collectively taking responsibility?
The saga challenges all of us who face ethical dilemmas to act well before wrong turns escalate. And to admit it when we fail. In that sense the festering wound of “Sandpapergate” takes us well beyond the sporting landscape.
This Thinking Out Loud was first published on CPX’s social media platforms. Follow us @publicchristianity
Image: David Molloy Photography, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons