Sports
Khawaja Refutes Accusations of ‘Throwing Anyone Under the Bus’ Over Sandpapergate
Usman Khawaja denied that he has “thrown anyone under the bus” after a former Australian cricketer released an excerpt from his autobiography claiming the entire team knew of ball‑tampering during a 2018 tour of South Africa. The scandal, dubbed Sandpapergate after the use of sandpaper to scuff the ball in the March 2018 Test in Cape Town, led to a major integrity crisis for Cricket Australia. Captain Steve Smith, batsmen David Warner and Cameron Bancroft—who was caught with sandpaper in his pocket—were banned for their roles. In a video posted on Instagram on Sunday, the 39‑year‑old, who retired from international cricket in January, said he had wanted to “come clean” about the incident since 2018. “I haven’t thrown anyone under the bus,” he added. “The guys currently in the team and the other people who were there on the South African tour, including me, we’re not the victims. These three guys [Bancroft, Warner and Smith] took the blame for all of us, and they’re the victims.” Khawaja said he had spoken with the three players and promised Warner he would share his side of the story. “These three guys deserve justice, and I haven’t pointed fingers at anyone,” he added. “I’m still searching for what I was searching all those years ago: For us – me included – to take the blame together as a team so we can all move on from this once and for all.” He defended waiting so long to make the claims, denying it was a marketing ploy to sell his book. Khawaja said he wanted to go public in 2018 once Smith, Warner and Bancroft were suspended. “But Smudge [Smith] being the man and leader he was, he talked me out of it. He wanted to take the blame. I argued with him, but he was having none of it. That’s the first time I tried to come out.” He said he again almost spoke up in 2021 when bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon all denied publicly that they knew about the ball‑tampering. After extensive talks with then‑coach Justin Langer, he decided not to. Khawaja said he never felt comfortable talking after that while back in the Australian team from 2022. “Call me a chicken or whatever you want. I didn’t know how to do it because I was still in the team,” he said. “I was always conscious of putting my team first, but I’m not in that team any more.” Australia’s Test side returned to South Africa for the first time since 2018 last month and were beaten 2‑1 by the hosts in the three‑match series, which was shadowed in part by discussions of the scandal and the upcoming release of Khawaja’s book.