THE shrewd cameraman who caught on camera Australia’s cheating wears a tailored three-piece suit to work… even in baking heat!
Little-known Zotani Oscar is now the talk of the sporting world after he filmed Cameron Bancroft rubbing yellow sticky tape over the ball.
The fallout from the storm has seen Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull label it a “shocking disappointment” and captain Steve Smith be banned for one Test match.
But the dapper man – already famous for his razor-sharp look – who caught the scandal unfolding from behind the lens says fans used to make fun of him for his dress sense – before growing to love it.
And the bizarre tradition of getting suited and booted on the boundary lines came about purely by chance.
Oscar, who works for a South African TV channel, said: “In the season of 2007-08, when New Zealand was here [in South Africa], it happened that one of the cameramen got sick, while I was still working in the studio.
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“Then my former technical director asked me to help out, with the other guy having to leave.
“I went wearing a suit and tie.
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“And from there on he said he wanted to see me wearing that in every Test match.
“So it started like that.
“I only do it on the first day, when there is no chance of me having to pull rigs to pull cameras.”
Incredibly, the stifling suit – made in Calcutta – actually serves a practical purpose by guarding his skin from the baking sun.
Oscar explained: “I actually feel more comfortable wearing a suit rather than having to expose my skin to the sun.
“People started laughing at me but now it actually excites them. I usually get good compliments from the commentators.”
A former South Africa cricketer said the cheating would not have been discovered were it not for the cameramen following the players’ every move intently for 90 minutes.
Fanie de Villiers, now a commentator, said: “We actually said to our cameramen, ‘Go out, have a look if they are using something’.
“They searched for an hour and a half until they saw something and they started following Bancroft.”
Fellow commentator Neil Manthorp added: “You wouldn’t have picked it up from the stands. You wouldn’t have picked it up from normal television coverage.
“We had guys who were trying to do their job, filming the entirety of the event. It took some pretty skilled cameraman to pick it up in the first place.”
Social media users were quick to praise Oscar for his eagle-eyed success.
One said: “I feel for Bancroft – the poor bloke copped the one Saffer cricket cameraman who doesn’t spend his downtime scanning the crowd for hot chicks.
Another wrote: “The cameraman Oscar should get an Oscar for best camera work.”
One fan posted: “Morne Morkel robbed the cameraman of the man of the match award.”
A fellow user said: “Cameraman who caught Bancroft on tape should get Bancroft’s match fees.”
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