Why Cricket Australia made sure that leftover footage of headline-grabbing documentary ‘The Test’ was DESTROYED

Cricket Australia has been scrambling to ensure all the skeletons in its closet remain there after ordering all the unused footage from the shoot The exam be destroyed.

The second season of the fly-on-the-wall documentary about the Australian Test cricket team was recently released on the streaming service Amazon Prime.

The series touched on a number of important changes and issues in Australia’s cricket setup, including the sacking of coach Justin Langer, the appointment of Pat Cummins as captain, Glenn Maxwell’s battle with depression and Usman Khawaja’s faith and ongoing struggles against discrimination.

The Test documentary highlighted Justin Langer’s appointment as Australia manager in 2018 – and when he resigned in controversial circumstances last year

Australian skipper Pat Cummins candidly revealed in The Test that Langer has done a fine job as a helmsman – but after four years it was time for a fresh look in his eyes

Throughout the two seasons of captured many meaningful and insightful moments The exam Hundreds or hours of excess footage has also been shot there to date.

Recently we’ve seen old footage resurface decades later The last Dance about Michael Jordan and the all-conquering Chicago Bulls of the 1990s, giving viewers a new look at a golden era of the NBA.

But with this cricket footage, there’s no chance of that happening after Cricket Australia ordered the destruction of unused content.

That means any conversation, statement or vision of a moment that Cricket Australia would not approve of The exam will remain hidden from the public forever.

All the deleted and destroyed visions are from the first season of The exam and grew out of a handshake agreement between Cricket Australia and principal cinematographer Andre Mauger.

A similar arrangement has not yet been made for the remaining content from Season 2, so there is some hope that it will be archived and revisited in the future.

The sandpaper fraud incident in South Africa was covered extensively in The Test, with Cricket Australia’s rebuilding highlighted afterwards

The Test documented Tim Paine’s rise from obscurity to Test captain and then his consequent downfall over the sexting scandal

However, Cricket Australia has a track record of being very careful about what goes on in the holy of holies of the Test team’s dressing rooms.

1996 the documentary Year of the Dogs was released and looked behind the scenes of the fight against AFL club Footscray – who would later become the Western Bulldogs.

Interest was high and filmmakers wanted a similar approach to the Australia cricket team but were denied. Similar flat bats have since been included in all inquiries The exam enter new territory.

Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting gave some insight into why they didn’t want cameras in their dressing rooms at the Chappell Foundation dinner in Sydney in early 2020.

“I’ve been very reluctant as Australia captain because I didn’t particularly want – and that will probably get the wrong word – for the public to know about our team,” he said.

“There was a lot of mystique about what happened in the Australia cricket team’s dressing rooms and I found myself to be the guardian of our players, almost like a father figure to the players I wouldn’t let anyone know what they did. I don’t need to know.”

Five years ago filming for The exam started with Australia’s reputation in tatters after South Africa’s ball-tampering scandal.

Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschgne attend the premiere of The Test Season Two at the Hoyts Entertainment Quarter

The documentary shows how Justin Langer slowly rebuilt the team’s image, with its two top batsmen, Steve Smith and David Warner, both banned from the sport by CA for 12 months after discrediting the sport.

It follows the now infamous footage in Cape Town, where Cameron Bancroft – who was himself later banned for nine months – was caught on camera using sandpaper to illegally alter the shape of the ball during a test.

It’s well known that Warner pushed him into it – and then Skipper Smith was aware of the underhanded tactic but didn’t stop it.

A total of eight episodes followed in season one, in which Australia saved its reputation under the new leadership of Langer and Tim Paine.

The second season saw further changes as Paine’s historic off-field behavior involving a Cricket Tasmania staffer led to his resignation as Australia captain ahead of the 2021 Ashes series.

Australian all-rounder Maxwell opened up about his struggles with mental health and depression on The Test

Months later, Langer resigned after four years as Australia manager, offended by a six-month contract extension from CA.

Australia followed, winning the Ashes against England and the 2021 T20 World Cup in Dubai.

The documentary also gives a glimpse of how Langer has reportedly lost the support of key figures like Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood due to his tough-talking nature.

The trio declared after four years at the helm, the consensus in the playing group was that Langer had done a good job but it was time for change.

Former all-rounder Andrew McDonald replaced Langer in the hot seat last April.