Usman Khawaja has denied he has “thrown anyone under the bus” a day after the former Australian cricketer released an excerpt from his autobiography claiming the entire team had been aware of ball-tampering during a 2018 tour of South Africa. The scandal – called Sandpapergate over Australia’s scuffing of the ball with sandpaper during the March 2018 Test in Cape Town – sparked a major integrity crisis for Cricket Australia. Captain Steve Smith and batsmen David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, who was caught with the sandpaper in his pocket, were banned for their part in the scandal.
In a video posted on Instagram on Sunday, Khawaja said he had wanted to “come clean” about the incident since 2018. He said he wanted to go public in 2018 once Smith, Warner and Bancroft were suspended. I argued with him, but he was having none of it.
That’s the first time I tried to come out.” Khawaja said he again almost spoke up in 2021 when bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon all denied publicly that they knew about the ball-tampering. But after extensive talks with then-coach Justin Langer, he decided not to, he said. Khawaja said he never felt comfortable talking after that while back in the Australian team from 2022.
I didn’t know how to do it because I was still in the team,” Khawaja said.
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