'I knew it was sandpaper': Josh Hazlewood falls victim to witty Barmy Army prank

On the fourth day of the Gabba Test, a hilarious exchange took place between the Australian fast bowler Josh Hazelwood and England's Barmy army. Hazelwood unknowingly became the victim of a prank executed by the English fan team Barmy Army.

Australian players fielding deep on the boundary ropes, were signing the photographs given to them by the fans in the stands. This is a normal practice in Australia, unlike India, where there is a considerable gap between the fans and players. Also the Covid restrictions in Australian cities have been eased.

A member of the Barmy Army got Josh Hazlewood to sign his photo, but without the knowledge of the speedster of the immodest text written beneath the photograph. 

"I Joshua 'Joshie' Hazlewood do solemnly sear (swear) that I knew it was sandpaper," read the text at the bottom as Barmy Army once again had a laugh at the expense of the Australian team by taking a dig at them over the Sandpaper Gate that rocked Australian cricket in 2018.

The Barmy Army took to Twitter to share the picture of the photograph signed by Hazlewood and captioned the post - "Josh Hazlewood just signed this on the boundary, we knew it".

Josh Hazlewood was part of Australia's line-up against the infamous Cape Town Test against South Africa in 2018. The Aussie opener Cameron Bancroft was caught using sandpaper on a ball, which led to the cricket of Cricket Australia (CA) banning Bancroft, followed by captains Steve Smith and David Warner.

Earlier this year, Bancroft had previously revealed that Australian bowlers were aware of all conspiracies. In response, the fast bowling trio issued a statement denying the allegations. Josh Hazlewood, also separately, has been adamant that he was not involved.