Australia’s Usman Khawaja (AP Photo/James Elsby)
The Sandpapergate scandal that rocked Australian cricket in 2018 has returned to the spotlight following fresh revelations from Usman Khawaja , who has claimed that the entire team was aware of the ball-tampering attempts during the Test series against South Africa. Further details from the autobiography, reported by Code Sports, have also shed light on a disagreement within the Australian dressing room after the Cape Town Test.
That is all,” the former Australian batter said. I haven’t thrown anyone under the bus… those three guys [Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft] who took the blame for all of us, they’re the victims,” he said. The revelations have triggered strong reactions, with former Australia coach Darren Lehmann rejecting Khawaja’s claims and ex-England captain Michael Vaughan also expressing his displeasure. Together, as a team, we need to take that collectively. The former opener also addressed suggestions that he had chosen to make the revelations eight years after the incident to generate publicity and boost sales of his autobiography. Khawaja maintained that he had deliberately held back the account until the Australian team had returned from South Africa. “What I say now isn’t a reflection of them anymore, and now my words don’t influence the team at all. I speak for myself. “Why would someone who really wants to increase the sale of his book refuse the greatest marketing opportunity he has? Khawaja claimed that two members of the team objected to his proposal that the players collectively accept responsibility for what had happened. Following those remarks, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon issued a joint statement distancing themselves from the incident.
Excerpts from Khawaja’s upcoming autobiography, Sabr, published by the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) on Saturday, suggested that the controversial practice was not restricted to the third Test in Cape Town but had also been attempted in the preceding match.