Marsh Declines to Discuss Ball-Tampering Claims Ahead of Perth ODI

Mitch Marsh refused to answer questions about ball tampering during Australia's 2018 tour of South Africa, speaking ahead of the first one-day international against England in Perth. Ball tampering means altering the ball's surface illegally to help bowlers swing it, and it was the centre of a major scandal on that tour.

Marsh was part of Australia's Test squad in South Africa that year. He played in the third Test in Cape Town, when Cameron Bancroft was filmed handling sandpaper. Cricket Australia later handed long suspensions to Steve Smith, David Warner and Bancroft.

The subject is back in the news because of Usman Khawaja's memoir, Sabr. Khawaja alleges that more than the three banned players knew about the plan. He also claims sandpaper was used during the Test before Cape Town, and he has called for all players to take collective responsibility for what happened.

Marsh said he had not read the book, but he had spoken to Khawaja before its release. He said his focus was on captaining Australia against England in a World Cup year, not on sharing his memories of South Africa. Marsh also did not sign a 2021 statement in which Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon denied knowing about the plan.

Marsh's press conference came a day before Cummins was due to speak to the media on the same topic. The Guardian reported that Cricket Australia has said there is no compelling reason to reopen its ball-tampering investigation in light of the book.

For fans, the question has moved on from what happened in 2018 to how the current squad talks about it. Cummins's comments will be the next test of that.