‘It was all of us’: Khawaja says entire Australia team knew about sandpaper ball tampering plot

Former Test opener says object also used on cricket ball in Port Elizabeth

CA remains ‘comfortable’ with bans only for Bancroft, Warner and Smith

Usman Khawaja has claimed “all” of the Australia touring party knew about the plot to tamper with the ball against South Africa in Cape Town in 2018 and the team also used sandpaper during the second Test at Port Elizabeth.

The former Australia batter said the team used sandpaper to tamper with the ball before Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera while handling the object during the third Test, ahead of the release of Khawaja’s autobiography Sabr on Tuesday.

Bancroft, David Warner and Steve Smith were the only players sanctioned after a Cricket Australia investigation found the trio had prior knowledge of the scheme to use sandpaper as a ball tampering agent in Cape Town.

Captain Smith and Vice-captain Warner were suspended for 12 months for their parts in the plot, while Bancroft was handed a nine-month ban for using sandpaper on the ball.

“It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us,” Khawaja told Nine newspapers.

“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. The issue is that I genuinely thought after eight years the truth would have been out by now.”

Khawaja dedicates the “sandpapergate” chapter in his book to Bancroft, Warner and Smith.

“Maybe I thought Davey would have exposed it, or someone else would have talked about it more. I just didn’t think it was going to come down to this,” he said. “But the longer it’s gone on for, and right from the very start, I’ve been on the train of collectively taking it.

“Even in the change rooms when I was talking to them after the game. I said, ‘Take this as a team’. We did this as a team. We knew what was going on, and we have to take it as a team, and so I was always of that stance.

“Obviously, it didn’t work that way, and those three guys got crucified.”

Khawaja said Bancroft first volunteered to use sandpaper on the ball during the second Test in Port Elizabeth, now known as Gqeberha, before the plan unravelled when cameras spotted the young opener handling the yellow object while on the field during the next Test at Newlands.

The retired Test opener said Smith walked away from discussions around ball tampering in the dressing room in Port Elizabeth, giving the impression he did not want to know what was going on.

Cricket Australia has insisted in the years since a hasty investigation in 2018 that only Bancroft, Warner and Smith were involved in the ball tampering plot.

“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,” a CA spokesperson said in light of Khawaja’s claims.

“During this time there has been the ongoing opportunity to present any relevant information, and this remains the case.

“All relevant information presented to CA to date has been properly considered and we remain comfortable with the findings of our integrity process.”

Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon publicly denied in 2021 that they knew about the scheme after Bancroft had told the Guardian it was “probably self-explanatory” whether the bowlers had prior knowledge.

Cummins confirmed in the lead up to Australia’s recent tour of South Africa that Khawaja had called to inform him he would be writing the book.

“It’s obviously a long time ago, Australia’s Test captain said last month. “All the investigations, everything was done back then. Answered every question a million times.

“It was dealt with then, all I can say is as a group we’ve moved on.”