Photo: Collected
Everyone in the Australian team knew about the use of sandpaper in the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal, former left-handed batter Usman Khawaja has claimed, more than eight years after the incident. According to him, sandpaper (an abrasive paper used to smooth surfaces) had also been used in the previous Test in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha).
Khawaja’s claim does not match the joint statement issued in 2021 by four Australian bowlers – Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon. In that statement the four denied allegations that they knew about the ball tampering.
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Khawaja said, ‘We all knew. Not just the batters or the bowlers or the support staff, all of us.’ The matter is also covered in detail in his soon-to-be-published autobiography, ‘Sabr’.
During the Cape Town Test against South Africa, opener Cameron Bancroft was seen hiding a small piece of sandpaper inside his trousers. Captain Steve Smith then publicly admitted that the team’s ‘leadership group’ had planned the ball tampering. As punishment, Smith and vice-captain David Warner were banned for 12 months and Bancroft received a nine-month ban. Smith was also barred for a further 12 months from holding any leadership position in Australian cricket.
Warner was handed a lifetime captaincy ban. Soon after it was lifted in 2024, he was made captain of the Sydney Thunder. Khawaja said he had appealed to everyone in the dressing room that the whole team take responsibility rather than making scapegoats of Smith, Warner and Bancroft alone.
According to the outlet’s report, Khawaja said he would not have wanted to do this in an ideal situation; he did not want to be someone who came forward to expose the truth either. The problem was that he really thought that after eight years the truth would have come out by now. He thought perhaps Davey (David Warner) would reveal it, or someone else would speak more about it. He never thought it would come to this. But given how long the matter has dragged on, he believes the responsibility should be taken collectively.
Usman Khawaja said that when talking to his teammates in the dressing room after the match, he had also said, ‘Take responsibility for this as a whole team’. His argument is that the act was done as a team; everyone knew what was going on, so the team should take responsibility. He held this position from the start. In reality that did not happen; instead, those three were harshly isolated.
Explaining why he spoke out, Khawaja said he felt ‘this is the right thing to do’. He has stood by Smith, Warner and Bancroft; in his view, the three have had to carry the burden of the consequences in the years since. The Australian cricketer said he has always believed life is much bigger than cricket. In a sense these players deserve justice, but it does not seem anyone will give it to them. And none of the three wants to be the first to say anything.
After the Test, Cricket Australia launched an investigation, which led to bans of various lengths for the three players. But Khawaja said he was surprised that the board did not call him in for questioning. He said he sat next to Cam Bancroft throughout the Test, yet he was not called to give an interview. Khawaja firmly believes he was not called because they knew he would present the matter from the team’s perspective; they also knew that if interviewed, he would tell the truth.
Khawaja said Australia had lost a Test series 2-1 before the South Africa tour. He spoke to current Test captain Pat Cummins about his book and told him it would include a frank discussion of the ball-tampering scandal.
The former opener bid farewell to international cricket early this year after the Ashes series. In the interview he said that anyone reading what he has written will see he repeatedly said it was ‘our’ matter, meaning the whole team’s; the responsibility was not just Steve’s, Davey’s (David Warner) or Bangers’ (Cam Bancroft) but everyone’s. At the end of the day he feels it was the right thing to do, especially for those three. He believes most members of the team will in some way be relieved that they can finally put the matter behind them and move on.
Background
Cricket Australia’s investigation after the 2018 incident found no evidence that any other player knew of the plan to use sandpaper, and the board has always maintained this position, according to an Australian Associated Press report published by The Canberra Times in October 2026.
At a glance
According to CricTracker, the full title of Khawaja’s autobiography is ‘Sabr: Finding My Way in Cricket and Life’; the 448-page book from Penguin Books Australia is due for publication on 10 November 2026. The same report said Khawaja had told captain Cummins and Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg, before the team left for the South Africa tour, that the book would include a separate chapter on the sandpaper scandal.
Sources
Original report: Bangladesh Pratidin
Background sources: The Canberra Times (AAP), October 2026; CricTracker, October 2026
