David Warner has thanked Usman Khawaja for coming forward and recounting a ‘100 per cent accurate’ story of the ball-tampering scandal which has haunted Australian cricket for the last eight years.
The Australia Test team were adjudged to have used sandpaper to illegally rough up and change the condition of the ball in the third contest of their four-match series with South Africa back in 2018.
As a result, vice-captain Warner and captain Steve Smith were both slapped with one-year suspensions, while fellow batsman Cameron Bancroft was handed a nine-month ban.
The scenes that played out in Cape Town dominated both the front and back pages for the days and weeks following the controversy and the shameful incident has proven an enduring stain on Australian cricket, often held against the Baggy Greens by rival supporters.
Warner and Smith have both been forced to deal with the repercussions of ‘sandpapergate’ throughout their respective careers and Bancroft, aged only 23 at the time, only made a brief return for the Test side after returning from suspension.
But eight years on and a bombshell revelation from ex-Australia opener Khawaja – in his autobiography ‘Sabr: Finding My Way in Cricket and Life – has shed new light on the events of Newlands.
According to Khawaja, the entire team were aware of the use of sandpaper to tamper with the ball – not only Warner, Smith and Bancroft.
‘It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us,’ the recently retired 39-year-old said.
In a separate statement, Khawaja defended the timing of his revelations, insisting he had not ‘thrown anyone under the bus’.
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‘I haven’t thrown anyone under the bus,’ Khawaja told his followers in a two-part video explanation on Instagram.
‘The guys that are currently in the team right now and the other people that were there on the South African tour, including me, we’re not the victims.
‘These three guys took the blame for all of us. They’re the victims… people telling them that they’re cheats, getting nailed by the crowd. Public humiliation.’
Khawaja revealed that he had made a promise to both Smith and childhood friend Warner that he would ‘come clean’ before going public with his explosive remarks.
‘I told Smudge [Smith] that I was going to come clean to the media,’ he added.
‘I couldn’t believe the penalties he got. But Smudge being the man and leader he was, he talked me out of it.
‘He wanted to take the blame. I argued with him, but he was having none of it. That’s the first time I try to come out.’
Twenty-four hours on and Warner took to social media to give his two cents, first thanking Khawaja for telling the ‘truth’.
The 40-year-old – who retired from Test cricket in January 2024 – also rubbished claims that Khawaja had decided to make the revelations to help boost sales of his autobiography in the run-up to Christmas.
‘Hi, everyone. It’s been eight years since I’ve spoken on this topic and Uzzie, I throw my full support behind you. I thank you for what you’ve done,’ Warner said.
‘It’s 100 per cent accurate what you’ve said. Now everyone knows the truth, it’s out there.
‘People wanted to know it, you’ve come out and said it and now people are saying, “Why eight years on?”, talking about selling a book.
‘This is Usman’s story, this is what Usman believes, Uzzie wrote down every single thing from that day on. Uzzie, thank you.
‘Now, this whole interview process was rushed and botched. Uzzie was sitting next to Cameron Bancroft, Uzzie was not interviewed. How is that a thorough investigation? It baffles me.’
Warner added: ‘We’re not here to point fingers and we’re not opening old wounds.
‘It’s about accountability, transparency, ensuring that the truth is properly examined, and perhaps it is time that people stop scrutinising the person asking for accountability and start asking those responsible for the investigation to provide it.
‘Now, there was a lot of statements and inaccuracies over the last eight years that were out in the media by people, and there was a lot of people who stayed silent.’
Warner opened up on how ‘tough’ it had been to relive the sandpaper saga while explaining details of the controversy to his daughters in the wake of Khawaja’s statement.
He went on: ‘The last couple of days, I’ve been talking to my daughters and that’s why it has taken a couple of days to get this out because I’ve had to tell them exactly what had happened, especially my 12-year-old Ivy, who wanted to know why there were so many cameras, why we were all crying on TV.
‘That was a hard thing to do but one thing did say is, “Girls, tell the truth because lies will eventually get out”, it was a very tough time.
‘This is for everyone in Australia, it’s been a question that everybody has been asking. Uzzie, you’ve said it how it is, it’s 100 per cent accurate.
‘It’s been a tough time for my family, Steven [Smith] and Cameron [Bancroft] no doubt, but this is what needs to come out. I fully support that, Uzzie.’
The four Australian bowlers involved in the 2018 Cape Town Test, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, have repeatedly and categorically denied that they were aware of any plans to tamper with the ball.
Australia’s head coach at the time of the scandal, Darren Lehmann – who was cleared of any wrongdoing – has adopted a similar stance, and this week shot down Khawaja’s claims.
‘I don’t think everyone would have known,’ Lehmann told ABC Sport.
‘You do know ball tampering is going on because it’s been happening for 150 years. It’s just how it’s being done, and how you would know to that extent?
‘I can only speak to what I know, and I know ball tampering was a big part of the game of cricket. Now it is obsolete.
‘That doesn’t make it right either, but that’s the case, and we paid a heavy price for that.’
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‘100 per cent accurate’ – David Warner backs Usman Khawaja’s sandpapergate revelations
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