Claims extracted
25
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
12%
3 of 25 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
The smell that has wafted around Cricket Australia’s brusque response to cheating by the Australian team in South Africa eight years ago has redeveloped into a strong stench blanketing officialdom’s claim that the matter is closed.
uncertain
matter → waft → claim
Cricket Australian offered up three sacrificial lambs after Cameron Bancroft was filmed shoving sandpaper into his pants.
asserted
Bancroft → offer → pants
Bancroft was banned for nine months.
asserted
Bancroft → ban → months
Skipper Steve Smith and batsman Dave Warner received 12-month suspensions.
asserted
Smith → receive → suspensions
Smith was banned also from the captaincy for at least two years, while Warner was told he would never lead Australia.
asserted
he → ban → Australia
One of Australia’s players in that Cape Town Test, Usman Khawaja, who retired last January, has written an autobiography, Sabr, in which he claims the entire team knew of tampering with the ball in the previous Port Elizabeth Test.
uncertain
team → retire → Test
All of us,” Khawaja told the Herald.
asserted
Khawaja → tell → Herald
Warner has come out and said Kawaaja’s recollection was 100 per cent accurate.
asserted
recollection → come → ?
“Now everyone knows the truth.
asserted
everyone → know → truth
It’s out there.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
People wanted to know it.
asserted
People → want → it
You’ve come out and said it.”
asserted
You → come → it
Mitchell Starc is the first current player to deny the allegations, saying his recollection hadn’t changed over time and his fellow bowlers knew nothing about the sandpaper use.
asserted
bowlers → deny → use
In 2021, when the controversy re-erupted, four of the Australian bowlers in Cape Town Test, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitch Starc and Nathan Lyon, released a statement re-affirming that they did not know a “foreign substance was taken onto the field to alter the condition of the ball” until they saw images of the sandpaper in Bancroft’s possession on the big screen at the ground.
asserted
they → re → ground
The sport personifies ethics and fair play; the official rulebook includes a preamble called the “Spirit of Cricket”.
asserted
rulebook → personify → Cricket
The 1932-33 “Bodyline” series shocked Australia when England bowled lethal bouncers, and a 1981 one-day international turned into national shame after Australian captain Greg Chappell instructed his younger brother, Trevor, to roll the final delivery underarm to prevent New Zealand from hitting a six to win the match.
asserted
Chappell → shock → match
The same infamy haunts Sandpapergate.
asserted
infamy → haunt → Sandpapergate
Simon Longstaff, who led a review into the culture of Cricket Australia in 2018, said he had heard whispers that the public record of the cheating scandal was inaccurate and a cover-up was possible.
asserted
up → lead → scandal
“All I can say is that if what Khawaja alleges turns out to be true, then I was also lied to,” Longstaff wrote in the Australian Financial Review.
asserted
Longstaff → say → Review
Khawaja has pulled out of promotional media interviews after being challenged to comment on other players’ reactions to his claims.
uncertain
Khawaja → pull → claims
Cricket Australia has ruled out reopening an investigation into Sandpapergate.
asserted
Australia → rule → Sandpapergate
It is a predictable self-protection ignoring the uncomfortable reality that five players who played in South Africa are expected to feature in the Test squad to play New Zealand this summer and the likelihood the scandal will fester for years as others release their own biographies.
asserted
others → ignore → biographies
Cricket Australia needs to recognise that their sport personifies ethics and fair play, both on the field and the boardroom.
asserted
sport → need → field
It needs to get to the bottom of what happened in South Africa once and for all, for the good of the game.
asserted
what → need → game
Get a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own.
asserted
that → get → own
The Aporia
