Bancroft’s work on the ball was not shown live, but as a replay later in the over. Inside Newlands, the operator of the big screen – working independently from Naicker – showed the same footage.
“They take a feed from broadcast but they also have to insert their own graphics and commercialisation,” says Naicker.
“Between deliveries they tend to stay with live play, then at the end of the over they go to their commercials or whatever in the stadium. It was quite fortunate that when we showed it, it was in between deliveries, not at the end of the over.”
Bancroft would later admit he “panicked” when he saw himself on the big screen. Comically, he hid the sandpaper inside his trousers. SuperSport caught that, too.
“When Bancroft looked up at the screen and saw it, he removed it and put it in his jocks,” says Naicker. “The cameraman recorded it. It still wasn’t live, we played a replay.”
Bancroft, with Smith by his side, was challenged by on-field umpires Richard Illingworth and Nigel Llong.
The opener turned out his pockets, revealing only a black bag for his sunglasses. The ball was not changed and Australia were not given a run penalty. Play continued, yet SuperSport were on to what had happened.
“Australia coach Darren Lehmann was on the walkie-talkie to 12th man Peter Handscomb, who went on to the field, then the umpires get involved,” says Naicker.
“An entire team of cameramen played their part. There was one following the ball, one on Handscomb, one on Lehmann, one on Warner. They all told a story that I happened to put together with this great team of replay operators.”
As for Naicker, there was no hesitation in airing what his team had captured, even with the realisation of the magnitude of what was unfolding.
“A lot of people who watch cricket on SuperSport will know we are quite brave in terms of being quite creative and editorially sound,” he says.
“It was a natural instinct. It wasn’t something I previewed with 10 other people to say ‘What do you think, should we show it?’ I just went for it.”
The footage was pored over by Naicker’s team of commentators, while his phone was “WhatsApping off the hook” with messages from around the world, asking him to show it again and again. Replays drew the attention of the third umpire, Englishman Ian Gould.
“He’s got comms with me while I’m directing,” says Naicker. “There was a moment when he asked me ‘I think that’s enough now, do you mind not showing it?’
“My response to him was ‘I’m quite comfortable in what I’m doing in my job and I think you should do yours’.”
When the day’s play finally ended, Naicker and his team went to a bar and heard Bancroft and Smith confess in their news conference. Both men and Warner were sent home from the tour and handed lengthy bans. When he returned to Australia, Smith broke down in a tearful address to the press in Sydney.
“It became disheartening for us,” says Naicker. “It started becoming emotional to see how they were feeling.
“The most difficult thing for me was to see Steve Smith shedding tears. That was not nice and never the intention. You have to have some emotion for those guys.”
Leave a Reply