New Delhi, Nov 7: Khawaja sandpaper scandal claims have reignited controversy in Australian cricket. Former Australian opener Usman Khawaja has alleged that the entire team knew about the infamous ball-tampering incident during the 2018 Cape Town Test against South Africa.
Khawaja will reportedly detail his claims in his autobiography, Sabr, scheduled for publication on Tuesday. Three days before its release, he spoke about the incident and alleged that the team knew sandpaper had been used on the ball. He also claimed that the object had been used during the previous Test.
“It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us,” Khawaja said, as quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald.
“In an ideal world, I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to be the one who comes out and talks about the truth. The issue is that I genuinely thought after eight years the truth would have been out by now.”
Khawaja Sandpaper Scandal Claims Challenge Earlier Account
Until now, the public account of the scandal had focused on then-captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. Bancroft was caught applying the object to the ball during the Cape Town Test.
Cricket Australia handed Smith and Warner one-year bans from international and domestic cricket. Bancroft received a nine-month suspension.
Smith also faced a two-year restriction on captaining Australia. Warner received a lifetime leadership ban in international and Australian domestic cricket. Cricket Australia overturned Warner’s leadership ban in 2024.
Khawaja said he had expected someone else to reveal the wider details of the incident.
“Maybe I thought Davey would have exposed it, or someone else would have talked about it more. I just didn’t think it was going to come down to this. But the longer it’s gone on for, and right from the very start, I’ve been on the train of collectively taking it.
“Even in the change rooms, when I was talking to them after the game. I said, ‘Take this as a team’. We did this as a team. We knew what was going on, and we have to take it as a team, and so I was always of that stance,” he added.
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Khawaja Says Sandpaper Scandal Left Lasting Impact
The former opener said Smith, Warner and Bancroft faced severe criticism following the incident. He believes the controversy left lasting scars on all three players.
“Obviously, it didn’t work that way, and those three guys got crucified.
“I’ve seen Davey over the last eight years just get nailed bad over and over again, and it’s taken a big man not to say anything and just to stay quiet.
“And he’s just copped it, and he’s copped it, and he’s copped it. And then ‘Bangers’ (Bancroft) in the same note, particularly, he played a little bit of Test cricket after that, but then never came back in, even though he’s been scoring a lot of runs. He’s been a terrific cricketer for a long time, but I know it’s something that hangs over his head.
“Even Steve Smith. Steve’s lucky, the greatest batsman of my generation. He came back from that, and he’s come back as good as he ever was in that first Ashes series, and it’s kind of been forgotten for him in some respects. But I know he has never ever forgotten that year and how it all panned out.”
Khawaja Claims Cricket Australia Never Interviewed Him
Khawaja also questioned why Cricket Australia never interviewed him during its investigation.
He said he had spent the entire Cape Town Test sitting beside Bancroft in the dressing room. However, investigators never contacted him.
“I was sitting next to Cam Bancroft that whole Test match, and I didn’t get interviewed,” Khawaja said.
“I thoroughly feel that I didn’t get interviewed because of that, because they knew that I wanted to take it as a team, because they knew I was ready to tell the truth if I was interviewed.
“And I was waiting for my phone to ring. It just never rang, and then the penalties were given, and I couldn’t believe it.”
Earlier Claims and South Africa’s Ball-Tampering Controversy
In 2021, Bancroft suggested that the Australian bowlers were aware of the Cape Town incident. He described their awareness as “self-explanatory”.
Following his comments, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon issued a joint statement. They denied having any knowledge of the ball-tampering incident.
Khawaja also claimed South Africa were “far better” at working with the ball. He said Australia were “trying to keep up with them” and indicated that his autobiography would reveal more about the matter.
Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has previously said his team also tried unconventional methods to generate reverse swing. Du Plessis himself faced sanctions twice for ball tampering.
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–IANS
