Former Australia opener David Warner has called Cricket Australia’s 2018 ball-tampering investigation a cover-up, according to Al Jazeera, escalating a row sparked by allegations in Usman Khawaja’s autobiography.
Warner said on Instagram on Saturday that Cricket Australia did not interview Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc or Nathan Lyon during the 2018 investigation, and described the probe as "a shoddy investigation." He said the process looked as if Cricket Australia had decided who to blame from the beginning. Warner was banned for a year over the Sandpapergate incident in Cape Town.
Khawaja’s autobiography alleged that the whole Australia team knew about the plan to rough up the ball with sandpaper during the third Test in Cape Town. Those claims are reported secondhand, as the sources do not quote the book directly.
Pat Cummins, now Test captain, rejected the claims at a news conference on Friday, calling them "100 percent wrong." Pakistan’s Wasim Akram, in a video comment reported by Dawn, questioned Cummins’s claim that he was unaware of the sandpaper use, arguing that an experienced bowler would immediately recognise sandpaper marks on the ball.
The 2018 probe concluded that only then-skipper Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Cameron Bancroft knew of the plan. All three were sent home from South Africa in disgrace. In a 2021 statement, Starc, Hazlewood, Lyon and Cummins publicly denied being aware of the plan.
Cricket Australia has ruled out reopening its investigation. It said all players were given the chance to speak at the time and could come forward with new evidence since. Warner’s account of who was interviewed rests on his own awareness, as he put it, "as far as I am aware." Hazlewood and Lyon have not commented, according to Al Jazeera, and no Australian response to Akram’s remarks appears in the reporting.
With Cricket Australia ruling out a new inquiry, the dispute is likely to continue through statements from players and former players, unless its position changes.
Sources
This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.