Usman Khawaja and David Warner. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
It’s 100% accurate what you’ve said.
People wanted to know it; you’ve come out and said it, and now people are saying, ‘Why eight years on? This is what Usman believes,” Warner said. “It’s been eight years since I’ve spoken on this topic. And Uzzie (Usman Khawaja), I throw my full support behind you. I thank you for what you’ve done. Now everyone knows the truth. It’s out there. Talking about selling a book—this is Usman’s story.
Especially my 12-year-old, Ivy, wanting to know why we were holding her, why there were so many cameras, why we were crying on TV,” he said. The investigation was rushed and incomplete, particularly because Khawaja, who was sitting next to Bancroft, was not questioned, according to Warner. Because i’ve had to tell them exactly what had happened, the last couple of days, I’ve had to be—I’ve been talking to my daughters, and that’s why it’s taken me a couple of days to get this out,.
And perhaps it’s time people stop scrutinising the person asking for accountability and start asking those responsible for the investigation to provide it,” Warner said. In an interview ahead of the book’s release, he said: “It was all of us. That is all,” he said. Khawaja said he had deliberately held back the account until the Australian team had returned from South Africa and had even spoken to Cummins before deciding when to make it public.
Khawaja has claimed that knowledge of the ball-tampering operation extended beyond the three players who were formally punished, and that the responsibility should have been accepted collectively by the team. “Now, this whole interview process was rushed and botched. Uzzie was sitting next to Cameron Bancroft; Uzzie was not interviewed. How is that a thorough investigation? It baffles me. We’re not here to point fingers, and we’re not opening our wounds. It’s about accountability, transparency, ensuring that the truth is properly examined. “Now, there were a lot of statements and inaccuracies over the last eight years that were out in the media by people, and there were a lot of people who stayed silent. Khawaja’s account challenged the long-standing position that only Warner, then captain Steve Smith and Bancroft had prior knowledge of the plan. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us. Together, as a team, we need to take that collectively. He also rejected suggestions that he had waited eight years to reveal the details simply to generate publicity for his autobiography.
“I stayed quiet yesterday, but number one, if you read my article, you would have seen when I mentioned it was all of us that’s implying that, whether we like it or not, we are all responsible for what happened.