Sports

Khawaja Says All Australian Players Were Aware of 2018 Ball‑Tampering Incident

By AFP

Former opener Usman Khawaja said on Saturday that the entire Australian team knew about the 2018 ball‑tampering scandal that occurred in Cape Town. He added that the team also used the tactic during the previous Test at Port Elizabeth. The scandal, known as ‘Sandpapergate’, involved Australia scuffing the ball with sandpaper during the March 2018 Test. A Cricket Australia investigation found that only captain Steve Smith, deputy David Warner and Cameron Bancroft had prior knowledge of the plot. Smith was banned for a year and removed as captain, Warner was suspended for 12 months and stripped of all leadership roles, and Bancroft received a nine‑month ban. Head coach Darren Lehmann was cleared of direct involvement but resigned shortly after the series.

Khawaja, who retired this year after playing 88 Tests, told The Sydney Morning Herald that everyone had prior knowledge. “It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us,” he said ahead of the release of his autobiography next week, which includes a chapter on the issue. In 2021, bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon publicly denied knowing about the tampering.

Khawaja said he spoke in the dressing room after the Cape Town Test, urging the team to take collective responsibility rather than blame Warner, Smith and Bancroft. He added that he had hoped the truth would have emerged after eight years and that someone else might have spoken up.

According to the newspaper, Khawaja recounts that discussions about ways to rough up the ball also took place in the dressing room during the second Test at Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha). He says the team discovered that sandpaper was effective and that Smith allegedly walked away, saying he did not want to know about it. Bancroft then allegedly volunteered to use sandpaper in South Africa’s first innings in Gqeberha, where the ball swung significantly.

Cricket Australia said it was “comfortable” with the findings of its original investigation but remained open to new evidence. In a statement it noted that “there has been a great deal of speculation in the eight years since the 2018 Cape Town Test, including extensive media coverage throughout last month’s series in South Africa.” It added that all relevant information presented to CA to date has been properly considered and that it remains comfortable with the findings of its integrity process.