The Usman Khawaja Sandpapergate claims, made in the Sydney Morning Herald ahead of the release of his book 'Sabr', contradict Cricket Australia's position that only Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft knew about the plan to use sandpaper on the ball in the third Test against South Africa.
Khawaja, who retired from international cricket after Australia's 4-1 Ashes win over England last winter, was blunt about how widely the plot was understood inside the dressing room. "It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us," he said.
Usman Khawaja Sandpapergate claim
In the book, Khawaja writes that ball-tampering plans were first discussed during the second Test of the 2018 series in Port Elizabeth, now Gqeberha. He describes sandpaper coming to be viewed as an "effective agent" once the idea was raised.
He also recalls how Smith responded during those early conversations. "It was at this point Smith essentially threw his hands in the air and said he didn't want to know," Khawaja said.
Khawaja said he had expected the full account to surface long before now. "The issue is that I genuinely thought after eight years the truth would have been out by now," he said. "I don't want to be the one who comes out and talks about the truth."
He framed the disclosure as a way to ease the burden on the three sanctioned players. "At the end of the day, I think it's the right thing to do, particularly for those three guys. And I think most of the guys in the team, at some level, will be relieved that we can finally move on," he said.
Khawaja added that he addressed teammates after the game in Cape Town and argued the responsibility was collective. "Take this as a team. We did this as a team. We knew what was going on. We have to take it as a team," he said. "Obviously, it didn't work that way, and those three guys got crucified."
Bans and the bowlers' denial
Smith, Bancroft and Warner all received sanctions after the incident. Smith and Warner were suspended for one year, while Bancroft was handed a nine-month ban. Warner was found to have been the architect of the plot, and Bancroft attempted to conceal the sandpaper down his trousers during the Test.
In 2021, bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon issued a joint statement insisting they had no idea about the tampering. That came after Bancroft replied "I think it's probably self-explanatory" when asked whether the bowling attack knew about the scandal.
Khawaja said he was surprised never to have been asked to give evidence, despite having played in the Cape Town Test.
Khawaja on humility and Justin Langer
Khawaja, who scored more than 6,000 Test runs in 88 matches with 16 hundreds and 28 fifties, argued the episode ultimately produced something useful for Australian cricket. "The best things come out of the worst times. I genuinely believe, for the Australian cricket team, the best thing that came out of Sandpaper is we found humility again," he said.
He credited Justin Langer, known to the players as JL, with restoring that outlook after taking over as coach. "He put humility back in the Australian cricket team," Khawaja said, adding that he enjoyed watching the side rebuild and that Cummins, who later became captain, was part of that process.
This report is based on the original coverage by skysports.com.
