--- title: "Steve Smith says 2018 Sandpapergate scandal still affects him ahead of South Africa Tests" description: "All outlets reported that Steve Smith expressed being haunted by the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal as he prepares for the Test series in South Africa. The framing and wording were largely uniform, with most using the phrase “still haunted by 'Sandpapergate'” or similar, and noting his reported trauma and determination to face the series. The Express Tribune added “— Australian batter says” in its headline, while the others used variations of “Steve Smith says” or “reveals.” Minute Mirror’s excerpt was slightly shorter and used “reveals he still experiences flashbacks,” but otherwise the emphasis was consistent across the coverage." url: https://harzaviya.com/stories/8938-steve-smith-haunted-by-sandpapergate-ahead-of-south-africa site: HarZaviya language: en --- # Steve Smith says 2018 Sandpapergate scandal still affects him ahead of South Africa Tests sports · updated 17 Sep 2026, 1:39 PM PKT · 17 Sep 2026 · 6 articles from 6 outlets **HarZaviya summary** — how 6 outlets covered this, generated automatically from their headlines and excerpts: > All outlets reported that Steve Smith expressed being haunted by the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal as he prepares for the Test series in South Africa. The framing and wording were largely uniform, with most using the phrase “still haunted by 'Sandpapergate'” or similar, and noting his reported trauma and determination to face the series. The Express Tribune added “— Australian batter says” in its headline, while the others used variations of “Steve Smith says” or “reveals.” Minute Mirror’s excerpt was slightly shorter and used “reveals he still experiences flashbacks,” but otherwise the emphasis was consistent across the coverage. ## Same story from 6 outlets Each outlet's own headline, most recent first — read any at its source. - **Business Recorder** — [Smith still haunted by 'Sandpapergate' as he prepares for South Africa Tests](https://www.brecorder.com/news/40439944/smith-still-haunted-by-sandpapergate-as-he-prepares-for-south-africa-tests) · 17 Sep 2026, 1:39 PM PKT > SYDNEY: Steve Smith says he is still traumatised by the infamous “Sandpapergate” ball-tampering scandal in 2018, but the former Australia skipper is undaunted about returning to South Africa for his first Test series since. The prolific batsman was sent home in disgrace, banned for a year and sacked as captain after conspiring to alter the ball using sandpaper during the third Test in Cape Town... - **ARY News (English)** — [Smith still haunted by ‘Sandpapergate’ as he prepares for South Africa Tests](https://arynews.tv/smith-still-haunted-by-sandpapergate-as-he-prepares-for-south-africa-tests) · 17 Sep 2026, 1:25 PM PKT · 97% identical wording to the newest filing > Steve Smith says he is still traumatised by the infamous "Sandpapergate" ball-tampering scandal in 2018, but the former Australia skipper is undaunted about returning to South Africa for his first Test series since. - **Minute Mirror** — [Steve Smith haunted by Sandpapergate ahead of South Africa return](https://minutemirror.com.pk/steve-smith-haunted-by-sandpapergate-ahead-of-south-africa-return-631284/) · 17 Sep 2026, 10:54 AM PKT · 88% identical wording to the newest filing > Steve Smith reveals he still experiences flashbacks from the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal as Australia prepares for its Test series in South... - **24 News HD** — [Smith still haunted by 'Sandpapergate' as he prepares for South Africa Tests](https://www.24newshd.tv/17-Sep-2026/smith-still-haunted-sandpapergate-prepares-south-africa-tests) · 17 Sep 2026, 10:39 AM PKT · 97% identical wording to the newest filing > Steve Smith says he is still traumatised by the infamous "Sandpapergate" ball-tampering scandal in 2018, but the former Australia skipper is undaunted about returning to South Africa for his first Test series since. - **Dawn** — [Smith still haunted by 'Sandpapergate' as Australia returns to South Africa](https://www.dawn.com/news/2030583/smith-still-haunted-by-sandpapergate-as-australia-returns-to-south-africa) · 17 Sep 2026, 10:34 AM PKT · 99% identical wording to the newest filing > Steve Smith says he is still traumatised by the infamous “Sandpapergate” ball-tampering scandal in 2018, but the former Australia skipper is undaunted about returning to South Africa for his first Test series since. The prolific batsman was sent home in disgrace, banned for a year and sacked as captain after conspiring to alter the ball using sandpaper during the third Test in Cape Town eight y... - **The Express Tribune** — [Smith still haunted by 'Sandpapergate'](https://tribune.com.pk/story/2629814/smith-still-haunted-by-sandpapergate) · 17 Sep 2026, 7:22 AM PKT · 88% identical wording to the newest filing > Australian batter says 2018 ball-tampering scandal still haunts him ahead of South Africa Tests ## Part of a bigger story Other stories whose coverage resembles this one, nearest first. "% related" compares whole stories, not single articles — see [what the percentages mean](https://harzaviya.com/methodology). - [Australia to play first Test in South Africa since Sandpapergate scandal](https://harzaviya.com/stories/12875-australia-prepare-for-first-south-africa-test-since) · 8 Oct 2026 · 5 outlets · 73% related 6 articles from 6 outlets, 17 Sep 2026. Headlines and links belong to their outlets — HarZaviya links out and never copies article text. --- HarZaviya compares how Pakistani outlets cover the same story. It stores and shows each outlet's headline and a short excerpt, and links out — it never copies article text, and every headline belongs to the outlet that wrote it. It takes no stance on any outlet. Pages: [Top stories](https://harzaviya.com/) · [Latest headlines](https://harzaviya.com/feed) · [Archive](https://harzaviya.com/archive) · [Why](https://harzaviya.com/why) · [Sources](https://harzaviya.com/sources) · [Methodology](https://harzaviya.com/methodology) · [About](https://harzaviya.com/about) · [About the bot](https://harzaviya.com/about-bot) Trackers: [Gold prices](https://harzaviya.com/gold-prices) · [Fuel prices](https://harzaviya.com/fuel-prices) · [Stock exchange](https://harzaviya.com/stock-exchange) Any page on this site is available as markdown: send `Accept: text/markdown`, or add `.md` to the path.