Victoria captain and teammates dismiss Usman Khawaja's ball-tampering claims ahead of new book release

Victoria bowler Scott Boland and captain Will Sutherland responded on Monday to allegations in Usman Khawaja's forthcoming memoir that the state once mastered the “dark arts” of ball-tampering. Khawaja, whose autobiography "Sabr" is set to launch on Tuesday, described Victorian teams of the 2000s and 2010s as “genius” at extracting movement from an old ball.

Boland, who debuted for Victoria in 2011, acknowledged that cheating can occur at lower levels but said he has not witnessed anything untoward during his tenure. > "Yeah, I don’t know what the dark arts are," he said with a laugh. "I think in general the last 10 years, probably since Cape Town, reverse swing has really gone out of the game. I don’t know, if you went back to club cricket without cameras, you’d probably see a lot of things that would happen. From my point of view, I haven’t really seen anything untoward."

Sutherland, who became Victoria captain in 2023, argued that any past prevalence of ball-tampering has faded. > "He’s obviously trying to get some publicity for his book," the 27-year-old said, noting that he was a child when the alleged practices occurred. He cited rule changes introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the ban on using saliva to shine the ball, as evidence that the practice is no longer common at state level. "The game’s changed a lot. The Victorian team now, we’re very clear on what the rules are and we follow them as much as we can," he added.

Other players weighed in. Retired fast bowler Chadd Sayers supported Khawaja’s recollection of the 2018 Cape Town Test, while current Test bowlers have remained silent since a joint statement in 2021. New South Wales captain Nic Maddinson echoed former Test captain Mark Taylor’s view that repeated references to past scandals are disappointing for current players. > "It’s obviously disappointing that it keeps coming up… it doesn’t really help them at all to relive it," Maddinson said.

Travis Head summed up the prevailing sentiment with a brief comment: "Move on. I think the public are ready to move on… the team has come a long way and the people that were in charge in 2018 have changed. Eight years down the track, it’s had its time and everyone is ready to move on."

Boland expressed confidence that the controversy will not distract the national side ahead of upcoming series, including the first Test against New Zealand in Perth on December 9.