Khawaja claims whole Australian team knew of 2018 sandpaper ball-tampering

Former Australian opener Usman Khawaja said in extracts from his autobiography that the entire 2018 Australian cricket team knew about the sandpaper used to tamper with the ball during the final Test of the series against South Africa. Khawaja wrote that discussions about ball-tampering began in the second Test at St George's Park and that the idea of using sandpaper was identified in the dressing-room.

"It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us," Khawaja told the Sydney Morning Herald.

The incident, widely known as “sandpapergate”, led to bans for captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and teammate Cameron Bancroft after television footage showed Bancroft applying sandpaper to the ball. The four bowlers who played in that match – Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon – have repeatedly denied prior knowledge. In 2021 they issued a joint statement saying they "did not know a foreign substance was taken on to the field" until the televised images were released.

Khawaja said he was not approached for evidence during Cricket Australia’s investigation and expressed disappointment that the truth had not emerged earlier. He added that he had urged the team to accept collective responsibility, but only the three batters were punished.

Pat Cummins, now Test captain, said he had spoken with Khawaja about the book and believed the matter was already resolved. "Tell your story. It's fine. It's obviously a long time ago and all the investigations, everything was done back then and we answered every question a million times," Cummins said on 8 October.

Khawaja concluded that the three players involved deserved collective accountability and that his memoir, titled after an Arabic term for resilience, dedicates a chapter to them in order to set the record straight.