Khawaja Claims Entire Australia Team Knew of 2018 Sandpaper Plot
Former Australia opener Usman Khawaja says the entire team knew of the 2018 sandpaper plot in Cape Town. Cricket Australia stands by its findings, while ex-coach Darren Lehmann and the four bowlers deny the claim.
Former Australia opener Usman Khawaja has claimed the entire national team knew about the 2018 sandpaper ball-tampering plot in Cape Town, and has also said one state was best at ball tampering in the Sheffield Shield. The remarks put 'Sandpapergate' back in the headlines.
Khawaja made the Cape Town claim in extracts from his autobiography, Sabr, published in the Sydney Morning Herald. He said the knowledge went beyond the three players who were punished.
"It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us," Khawaja, 39, said.
Cricket Australia's position
The claim contradicts Cricket Australia's long-held account. The governing body said only Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft knew of the plan to use sandpaper on the ball in the third Test against South Africa.
Smith and Warner were suspended for one year, and Bancroft for nine months. Cricket Australia said it remains "comfortable with the findings of our integrity process" and that there has been "ongoing opportunity to present any relevant information".
What the book says
Khawaja wrote that tampering was first discussed in the second Test at Port Elizabeth, now Gqeberha. He described a "discovery of sandpaper as an effective agent" after open talks in the dressing room.
"At this point Smith essentially threw his hands in the air and said he didn't want to know," he wrote. Khawaja, who scored 6,229 runs in 88 Tests, retired after Australia's 4-1 Ashes win over England last winter.
He said he had hoped others would speak first. "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," he said.
Denials from bowlers and Lehmann
Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon bowled in that Test. In a joint 2021 statement they said they "did not know a foreign substance was taken on to the field" until they saw images on the big screen at Newlands.
Bancroft had told a newspaper in 2021 that whether the bowlers knew was "pretty probably self-explanatory". The bowlers denied it days later.
Darren Lehmann, who resigned as head coach after the scandal and was cleared of wrongdoing, rejected Khawaja's version. He said it "drags up some bad memories" and added: "I don't think everyone would have known."
Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood have been rested from this month's white-ball series at home to England, and Lyon is not in the limited-overs squad. The four may not face questions on the claims immediately.
Lehmann said Australia "paid a heavy price for that".
