- Published
Usman Khawaja has claimed the entire Australia team knew about the use of sandpaper to tamper with the ball in the final Test of their 2018 series with South Africa.
asserted
team → publish → Africa
In extracts of his autobiography - Sabr - published in the Sydney Morning Herald,, external the former opening batter said Australia had also used the ball-tampering tactic in the Test before the infamous match in Cape Town.
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Australia → publish → Town
The incident - nicknamed 'sandpapergate' - was widely condemned and led to bans for captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and fellow batter Cameron Bancroft.
"
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incident → nickname → Smith
All of us," Khawaja, 39, told the Sydney Morning Herald.
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Khawaja → tell → Herald
The four Australia bowlers who played in that match, including current Test captain Pat Cummins, have consistently denied they had any prior knowledge of the plan.
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they → play → plan
In 2021, Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon issued a joint statement saying they "did not know a foreign substance was taken on to the field".
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substance → issue → field
Smith 'threw his hands in the air'
Khawaja, who scored 6,229 runs in 88 Tests, said that discussions about tampering with the ball began during the second Test of the series against South Africa.
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discussions → throw → Africa
That match, played at Port Elizabeth - now Gqeberha - led to what Khawaja said was the "discovery of sandpaper as an effective agent" after "open" discussions held in the dressing room at St George's Park.
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Khawaja → play → Park
"At this point Smith essentially threw his hands in the air and said he didn't want to know," Khawaja wrote.
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Khawaja → throw → air
Khawaja was also shocked not to be asked to provide any evidence during Cricket Australia's investigation.
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Khawaja → shock → investigation
"In an ideal world, I don't want to do this.
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I → want → this
I don't want to be the one who comes out and talks about the truth," he said.
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he → want → truth
"The issue is that I genuinely thought after eight years the truth would have been out by now."
While Smith, Warner and Bancroft - all batters - were punished, there was never an explanation of how bowlers Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon did not notice a change in the state of the ball.
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Cummins → think → ball
In a 2021 interview with the Guardian, Bancroft was asked if the bowlers knew and replied: "It's pretty probably self-explanatory."
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It → ask → Guardian
Days after Bancroft's interview was published, the quartet released their statement which said: "We feel compelled to put the key facts on the record again.
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We → publish → record
We did not know a foreign substance was taken on to the field to alter the condition of the ball until we saw the images on the big screen at Newlands.
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we → know → Newlands
And to those who, despite the absence of evidence, insist that 'we must have known' about the use of a foreign substance simply because we are bowlers, we say this: The umpires during that Test match, Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth, both very respected and experienced umpires, inspected the ball after the images surfaced on the TV coverage and did not change it because there was no sign of damage.
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images → insist → damage
"We respectfully request an end to the rumour-mongering and innuendo.
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We → request → mongering
It has gone on too long and it is time to move on."
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it → go → ?
Before Australia's recent Test series in South Africa - which the Proteas won 2-1 - Cummins said he had spoken to Khawaja about the publication of the book.
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he → win → book
The 33-year-old said he has no concerns about potential sandpapergate revelations and felt it was "all dealt with then" and the team had "moved on".
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team → say → revelations
"He didn't go into too much detail, just basically gave me the heads-up that he is doing a book and, as always, no worries," Cummins said on 8 October.
"Tell your story.
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Cummins → go → story
It's obviously a long time ago and all the investigations, everything was done back then and we answered every question a million times."
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we → do → question
Khawaja also said he had consistently argued that the team should take responsibility together, including in the dressing room after the Cape Town Test.
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team → say → Test
He wrote: "I said: 'Take this as a team.
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I → write → team
We did this as a team.
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We → do → team
We knew what was going on, and we have to take it as a team'.
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we → know → team
"Obviously, it didn't work that way, and those three guys got crucified.
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guys → work → ?
The left-handed batter said he thought Smith, Warner and Bancroft "deserve" the "justice" of collective blame.
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Smith → say → blame
He added: "None of those three want to be the first to say anything.
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None → add → anything
And rightly so, it will just be hearsay and 'their word' if they do.
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they → do → ?
They needed someone else to say something.
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someone → need → something
"But I'm not doing this for any other reason than I think it's the right thing to do."
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it → do → reason
The Aporia
