Sydney, November 11, 2026: Former Australian opener Usman Khawaja has cancelled promotional events for his new autobiography after facing questions over allegations that Australia’s bowlers knew about the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa, local media reported on Wednesday.
Khawaja came under scrutiny following an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) 7:30 programme on Tuesday, during which he declined to confirm whether captain Pat Cummins and other bowlers had prior knowledge of the use of sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball.
In his autobiography, Sabr, Khawaja argues that knowledge of the ball-tampering plan was not limited to the three players sanctioned over the scandal — Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft — and that the entire team should share responsibility.
Asked during the interview whether Cummins and other bowlers knew about the plan, Khawaja said several members of the team, including Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Shaun Marsh and Mitchell Marsh, were his close friends.
He said he was not interested in launching a witch hunt but wanted the team to take collective responsibility for what had happened.
“I’m not here to go on a witch hunt, all I’ve ever wanted is for us to take accountability as a team and I don’t think that’s a lot to say,” he said.
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc denied on Tuesday that he had prior knowledge of the ball-tampering.
Warner, who received a one-year ban and was identified by Cricket Australia’s investigation as the chief architect of the scheme, backed Khawaja’s account on Monday, describing it as 100 per cent accurate.
Cummins said in South Africa last month that Khawaja had informed him about the book and that he had no concerns about its publication.
“He just basically gave me the heads-up that he’s doing a book, and yeah, as always, no worries. Tell your story. It’s fine,” Cummins said.
Khawaja said he hoped other former teammates would speak openly about the 2018 episode but stressed that he was neither pressuring anyone nor calling on Cricket Australia (CA) to reopen the investigation.
“I’m not calling for anything, I’m literally sharing my version of the truth,” he said.
Australian media reported that Khawaja subsequently withdrew from scheduled television and radio interviews to promote the book. Khawaja and publisher Penguin did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The controversy has renewed calls for Cricket Australia to revisit the 2018 scandal, although chief executive Todd Greenberg said on Tuesday there was “no compelling reason” to launch another investigation.
Editorials in two major Australian newspapers have urged the governing body to take action, while The Australian called on Cummins, as the national team’s captain, to address the latest allegations.
Simon Longstaff, who led a cultural review of Australian cricket following the scandal, said the claims made by Khawaja and Warner had brought renewed attention to unresolved questions surrounding the men’s game.
Writing in the Australian Financial Review, he warned that if the recently raised allegations were established, the damage to cricket could be as serious as that caused by the original ball-tampering incident.
The 2018 scandal, widely known as ‘Sandpapergate’, erupted during Australia’s Test tour of South Africa after Bancroft was caught on camera using sandpaper to alter the ball’s condition. Smith and Warner were subsequently banned for 12 months, while Bancroft received a nine-month suspension.
