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Earlier on this story6 Nov: Usman Khawaja Says Entire Australia Team Knew About Sandpaper Ball Tampering in 2018

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14 outlets compared

Usman Khawaja Denies Throwing anyone Under the Bus Over Australia’s 2018 Sandpaper Revelations

SMH.au
“the sandpaper scandal of 2018, admitting he was unwilling to ‘go to war’ with his Australian teammates over their refusal to accept collective responsibility”
Al Jazeera
“I haven’t thrown anyone under the bus,’ added the 39-year-old, who retired from international cricket in January.”
5 Western Mainstream4 Asian2 Other3 Other source types

This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.

Khawaja denies throwing anyone under the bus over Sandpapergate revelations. The entire Australian team should take responsibility for the 2018 ball-tampering incident.

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Shared framing

The collection splits between two clear emphases: Khawaja's claim of shared team responsibility and his denial that he betrayed former teammates. A smaller strand shifts attention to the timing and disruptive impact of the revelations.

5 of 14 outlets · 5 of 15 headlines analysed

  • Al Jazeeradenies throwing ‘anyone under the bus’
  • Sky Sportshas not 'thrown anyone under the bus'
  • BBCI haven't thrown anyone under the bus
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Defence against accusations of betraying teammates

Many headlines foreground Khawaja's rebuttal that his revelations were not a betrayal of former teammates, making self-defence and motive a central editorial emphasis.

Other angles in this collection

Collective responsibility rather than scapegoating

4 outlets · 4 headlines

A strong shared emphasis presents Khawaja as arguing that responsibility for the sandpaper affair was broader than the punished trio, shifting attention from individual culpability to collective accountability.

Justifying the timing and delay in speaking out

3 outlets · 3 headlines

A smaller but distinct emphasis focuses on why Khawaja spoke when he did, treating the delay and its explanation as the main news angle.

All 15 analysed headlines

Counts describe this collection. One headline may support more than one angle.

Analysed 8 Nov 2026.

Reviewed by Codex validator (AI) · 8 Nov 2026

Khawaja denies bus claim

Usman Khawaja denied he had "thrown anyone under the bus" over his sandpaper revelations about Australia’s 2018 ball-tampering tour of South Africa. Khawaja said he had wanted to "come clean" about the incident since 2018, and he argued that the players currently in the team and the other people on the South African tour, including him, were "not the victims."

Khawaja said he believed Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft "took the blame for all of us" and that "they’re the victims," in comments delivered in videos posted on Instagram. Khawaja also said he had spoken with the three players involved and promised Warner he would share his side of the story, while he defended waiting so long to make the claims and denied it was a marketing ploy to sell his book.

Reporting for this sectionAl JazeeraBBC

Timing and team responsibility

Khawaja said he wanted to go public in 2018 once Smith, Warner and Bancroft were suspended, but he said Smith talked him out of it and that he argued with him but "he was having none of it." Khawaja said he again almost spoke up in 2021 when Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon denied publicly that they knew about the ball-tampering, but he said extensive talks with then-coach Justin Langer led him to decide not to.

Khawaja said he felt uncomfortable raising the subject while back in the Australian team from 2022, and he framed his decision as putting his team first while he insisted his words no longer influence the team. Darren Lehmann disputed Khawaja’s claim that the entire team knew, saying he did not think everyone would have known, while Khawaja continued to insist on collective responsibility after the Cape Town Test.

Reporting for this sectionAl JazeeraBBC

Cricket Australia stance

Cricket Australia said it remained comfortable with its integrity process findings from 2018, and it told reporters that "There has been a great deal of speculation" since the 2018 Cape Town Test. Cricket Australia also said that "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," even as Khawaja’s autobiography excerpts and Instagram videos renewed scrutiny.

Khawaja’s comments came as Australia’s Test side returned to South Africa for the first time since 2018 and were beaten 2-1 by the hosts in the three-match series, which was overshadowed in part by discussions of the scandal and the upcoming release of his book. Khawaja’s account also kept pressure on the players who were punished in 2018, while the BBC noted that four bowlers who played for Australia in that Test, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, remained part of the team and had issued a 2021 joint statement denying knowledge of a foreign substance being taken on to the field.

Reporting for this sectionBBCAl Jazeera