Usman Khawaja makes key admission in sandpapergate scandal eight years on
The 2018 sandpapergate scandal that shook the foundations of the cricket world is surfacing again, with ex-Test bat Usman Khawaja giving his version of events.
Eight years on from the Cape Town sandpapergate scandal that rocked the cricket world, former Test opening batsman Usman Khawaja has made a damning revelation.
Following an official investigation into the ball-tampering incident at Newlands in 2018, it was determined only opening bat David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft knew of the idea to use sandpaper in the third Test.
Bancroft received a nine-month suspension while Warner and Smith were banned for a year. Skipper Smith was also prevented from captaining Australia for two years thereafter.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.But Test batsman Khawaja, who batted at No.3 in the Newlands Test, recalls a different version of events.
“It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us,” the retired left-hander told the Sydney Morning Herald as he prepared to release his memoir Sabr.
Other players including bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon subsequently distanced themselves from the incident, saying they had no knowledge “of a foreign substance” being taken on the field.
Khawaja, who is now retired, said the Rubicon moment from Cape Town had come in the previous Test in Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha).
In excerpts of the book revealed by the newspaper, open, lighthearted discussions were held in the dressing room at St George’s Park about how to rough up the ball, culminating in the discovery of sandpaper.
It was at this point Smith essentially threw his hands in the air and said he didn’t want to know.
At a break in play, Bancroft then volunteered to use sandpaper in South Africa’s first innings in Gqeberha. The ball swung lavishly during that period, which the players discussed on the field.
Khawaja recalls sitting next to Bancroft in the Newlands Test and spoke to him and recalls an exchange with a member of the coaching staff that sparked the events to follow.
The left-hander also speaks about speaking passionately in the dressing room after the game for the team to take collective responsibility, rather than scapegoating Warner, Smith and Bancroft.
“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.”
