Sportsupdated 1h ago2 min read
David Warner Backs Usman Khawaja’s “100% Accurate” Sandpapergate Account
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Warner says Khawaja’s claim that entire Australian team knew about 2018 ball-tampering is 100% accurate. Warner characterizes Cricket Australia’s investigation into Sandpapergate as rushed and botched.
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Warner backs Khawaja
David Warner said Usman Khawaja’s account of Australia’s 2018 ball-tampering scandal is “100% accurate,” and he backed Khawaja in a social media video shared on Monday evening.
Warner said, “This whole interview process was rushed and botched,” and he added, “Uzzy was sitting next to Cameron Bancroft. Uzzy was not interviewed.”
Warner also said he was “100% accurate” in his recounting of the scandal, and he argued that the investigation should have been more thorough.
Cricket Australia said it had “All relevant information presented to CA to date has been properly considered” and that it “remain[s] comfortable with the findings of our integrity process.”
Khawaja denies scapegoating
Usman Khawaja denied he had “thrown anyone under the bus” a day after he released an excerpt from his autobiography alleging the entire team was aware of ball-tampering during a 2018 tour of South Africa. Khawaja said, “The guys currently in the team and the other people who were there on the South African tour, including me, we’re not the victims,” and he added, “These three guys [Bancroft, Warner and Smith] took the blame for all of us, and they’re the victims.”
Khawaja said he wanted to “come clean” about the incident since 2018, and he said he promised Warner he would share his side of the story. Khawaja said he had been almost ready to speak again in 2021 when bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon denied publicly that they knew about the ball-tampering, but he decided not to after extensive talks with then-coach Justin Langer.
What comes next
Cricket Australia said it would not re-open the investigation into the events of the 2018 Cape Town Test, and it pointed to the ongoing opportunity to present relevant information. The BBC said Australia play England in three one-day internationals and five T20s starting on Friday, and it said Australia begin a four-Test series at home to New Zealand on 9 December.
The BBC also said experienced batter Marnus Labuschagne has been dropped for the Tests, and it quoted chair of selectors George Bailey saying, “At this stage we won’t be considering Marnus for selection for certainly that first Test, but for the New Zealand series.” The Guardian said the claims have resuscitated calls for players including Test captain Pat Cummins to address if they had any knowledge about the use of sandpaper to help the ball swing on the 2018 tour of South Africa.