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Cricket Australia has moved to ensure that all the skeletons in your closet remain there after sorting out all unused footage from the filming of The proof be destroyed
The second season of the fly-on-the-wall documentary about the Australian Test cricket team recently launched on the Amazon Prime streaming service.
The series tackled a number of major changes and issues in the Australian cricket setup, including the sacking of manager Justin Langer, the appointment of Pat Cummins as captain, Glenn Maxwell’s battle with depression and Usman Khawaja’s faith and battles ongoing against discrimination.
The documentary Test highlighted Justin Langer’s appointment as Australian coach in 2018, and when he resigned last year under controversial circumstances.
Australian skipper Pat Cummins candidly revealed on The Test that Langer did a good job when he was at the helm, but after four years, it was time for a new perspective in his eyes.
While there were many significant and insightful moments captured over the two seasons of The proof hundreds or hours of surplus footage was also shot to date.
Recently, we have seen old images emerge decades later with The last Dance about Michael Jordan and the conquering all-conquering 1990s Chicago Bulls, giving viewers a fresh perspective on a golden era for the NBA.
There’s no chance of that happening with this cricket video though, after Cricket Australia ordered any unused content to be destroyed.
That means any conversation, statement or vision of moments that Cricket Australia would not approve for The proof will remain forever out of public view.
All the removed and destroyed vision is from the first season of The proof and grew out of a handshake deal between Cricket Australia and principal cinematographer Andre Mauger.
A similar arrangement has yet to be made for leftover content from the second season, so there is hope that it will be shelved and revisited in the future.
The sandpaper cheating incident in South Africa was well covered in The Test, highlighting the rebuilding Cricket Australia had to do afterwards.
The Test documented Tim Paine’s rise from obscurity to Test captain and then his subsequent downfall over the sexting scandal.
However, Cricket Australia have a history of being very cautious about what goes on in the inner sanctum of the Test side changing rooms.
In 1996 the documentary year of the dogs was released, going behind the scenes of the fight against AFL club Footscray, which would become the Western Bulldogs.
Interest was high, and the filmmakers wanted similar access to the Australian cricket team, but were denied. Similar flat bats have been raised to all applications since then, with The proof treading new ground.
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting gave some hints as to why they didn’t want cameras in their changing rooms at the Chappell Foundation dinner in Sydney earlier in 2020.
“I was very cautious as Australian captain because I didn’t particularly want, and this will probably be misinterpreted, the public to know about our team,” he said.
“There was a lot of mystique about what happened in the Australia cricket team dressing rooms and I found myself like a gatekeeper to our players, almost like a father figure to the players, where I wasn’t going to let anyone know anything about them.” I don’t need to know.
Five years ago, filming for The proof it started with Australia’s reputation in tatters following the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschgne attend the premiere of The Test Season Two at Hoyts Entertainment Quarter
The documentary shows how Justin Langer slowly began to rebuild the team’s image, with its two best hitters, Steve Smith and David Warner, both being banned from the sport for 12 months by CA after bringing the sport into disrepute.
It follows the now infamous video in Cape Town where Cameron Bancroft, himself later suspended for nine months, was arrested on camera using sandpaper during a test to illegally alter the shape of the ball.
It is widely understood that Warner urged him to do so, and then Captain Smith was well aware of the devious tactics, but did not stop them.
A total of eight episodes followed in the first season, where Australia saved its reputation under the new leadership of Langer and Tim Paine.
The second season showed further changes, when Paine’s historic off-field conduct involving a female Cricket Tasmania staff member saw him resign as Australian captain ahead of the 2021 Ashes series.
Australian multi-talented Maxwell opened up about his battles with mental health and depression on The Test
Months later, Langer resigned as Australian manager after four years in charge, insulted by a six-month contract extension from CA.
He followed Australia by winning the Ashes against England and the T20 World Cup in 2021 in Dubai.
The documentary also provides insight into how Langer reportedly lost the support of key figures like Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood due to his tough nature.
All around the trio’s status after four years at the helm, the consensus among the playgroup was that Langer had done an adequate job, but it was time for a change.
Former versatile Andrew McDonald replaced Langer on the bench last April.