Usman Khawaja Says Entire Australia Team Knew of Ball-Tampering Plan

What changed

Usman Khawaja says the entire Australia team knew about the use of sandpaper to tamper with the ball before the infamous third Test against South Africa in Cape Town in 2018.

He says discussions began during the second Test at Port Elizabeth, where sandpaper was identified as an effective way to help generate reverse swing. Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were banned after Bancroft was filmed using it at Newlands. Australia’s four bowlers, including Pat Cummins, have denied knowing about the plan.

Why it matters

This puts the old scandal back on its most uncomfortable question: how much did the rest of the team know?

Khawaja says the conversations were open in the dressing room and that Smith effectively said he did not want to know. He also says Cricket Australia never asked him to provide evidence during its investigation. That matters because the punishment fell on three players, while the bowlers have consistently said they only learned about the foreign substance when they saw the television images.

The informed speculation is that these book extracts could reopen an argument Australian cricket thought it had settled. But the central claim remains an allegation, and the report does not establish it independently. The next meaningful development would be a response from Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon to Khawaja’s account.