David Warner’s manager claims cricket officials TOLD stars to tamper with ball before Sandpapergate

Australian cricket star David Warner’s manager has made the stunning accusation that cricket officials told players to tamper with the ball before the Sandpapergate scandal that rocked the sport in 2018.

Then-captain Steve Smith, Warner and bowler Cameron Bancroft were all hit with heavy sanctions over the episode during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town, which saw Bancroft rough up one side of the ball with sandpaper.

Speaking a day after Warner withdrew his push to have his lifetime captaincy ban lifted, his manager James Erskine accused cricket officials of ordering players to break one of the sport’s cardinal rules.

He claimed the shocking development occurred after the Aussies suffered a heavy loss to South Africa in a Test match in Hobart in 2016.