Former Australia opener Usman Khawaja says the whole 2018 touring party knew of the sandpaper plan, not only the three players banned. Cricket Australia says it remains comfortable with its original findings, and former coach Darren Lehmann disputes his account.
Eight years after the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal, Usman Khawaja has reopened it. In extracts from his autobiography, Sabr, published by the Sydney Morning Herald, the former Australia opener says the plan was not confined to the three players who were punished. “It was all of us,” he writes. “Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us.” His account is his own, and it has not been independently verified.
What Khawaja says
Khawaja says sandpaper was discussed during the second Test of the 2018 series in South Africa, at Port Elizabeth, as the team looked for ways to generate reverse swing, and that Cameron Bancroft volunteered to use it. The plot was exposed in the next Test at Newlands. He says he then urged teammates to share responsibility, telling them in the change room to take it as a team because they all knew what was going on. He also says Steve Smith, David Warner and Bancroft were unfairly punished, and that he was never interviewed by Cricket Australia despite being in the squad.
Cricket Australia and Lehmann respond
Cricket Australia (CA) said it remains comfortable with the findings of its original integrity process. It noted that there had been “a great deal of speculation” in the eight years since the Cape Town Test, and said anyone with relevant information could still submit it. Darren Lehmann, who was head coach on the tour, disputed Khawaja’s version, saying he did not think everyone would have known. Lehmann added that ball tampering has long existed in cricket but that this did not make Australia’s conduct acceptable.
The 2018 record
CA’s original investigation concluded that only Smith, Warner and Bancroft had prior knowledge of the plan. Smith and Warner were banned for 12 months and Bancroft for nine, and Smith lost the captaincy while Warner lost his leadership roles. Khawaja’s claim directly contradicts that finding, and CA has said it remains open to new information.
