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Usman Khawaja fires back at claims he used Sandpapergate to sell more books: 'I don't need the money'

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Bailey, S. (2026, November 10). Usman Khawaja fires back at claims he used Sandpapergate to sell more books: 'I don't need the money'. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16280203/Usman-Khawaja-fires-sandpapergate-australian-cricket.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Daily Mail · collected 2026-11-10 · by Scott Bailey

Quick Summary

Usman Khawaja, a retired Australian cricketer, has denied using details from the ball-tampering scandal known as "sandpapergate" in his recently released memoir, Sabr, to boost sales. He claims that he included the controversial information at the request of David Warner and asserts that there was no financial incentive for him to do so, stating, “I don’t need the money.” Khawaja’s statements come after criticism from former teammate Nic Maddinson who accused Khawaja of selling books by revealing sensitive cricket details.
Written by AI on 2026-11-10, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Usman Khawaja's recently released autobiography, "Sabr," includes new details about the infamous 2018 sandpaper ball-tampering scandal involving Australia’s cricket team. In his book, Khawaja alleges that every member of the Australian team knew about the plot to use sandpaper on the ball during a Test match against South Africa in Cape Town and suggests it had been used in a previous match in Gqeberha as well. Khawaja also claims that before the scandal, a coach had discussed wanting players to make the ball swing more, saying "I don’t care what you have to do," implying broader knowledge within the coaching staff about ball tampering.

Khawaja has faced criticism for potentially using the scandal to boost book sales but insists he needed no financial incentive and made little extra money with strong sales. He maintains that revealing these details was a promise to former teammate David Warner, who was initially blamed as the architect of the plot despite an investigation finding only Warner, Steve Smith, and Cameron Bancroft were involved in the incident.

Written for “Usman Khawaja Defends Book Controversy” on 2026-11-10, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 140814 · logged 2026-11-10

Story

Usman Khawaja Defends Book Controversy
Sports · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 8% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 6 of 34 claims Outlet record 61/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of a broader topic and occur on different days, suggesting they are reporting on related events rather than the exact same incident.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 7 of 124 claims Outlet record 61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald
Outlet record 61/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the sandpaper scandal, with one focusing on David Warner's silence and the other on Usman Khawaja's denial of using the scandal to promote his book.”
Al Jazeera
Hedges 2 of 19 claims Outlet record 60/100
“Article A reports on David Warner's support of Usman Khawaja's claims about the entire team being aware of sandpaper ball tampering, while Article B focuses on Khawaja denying he used Sandpapergate to promote his book.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 3 of 36 claims Outlet record 61/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the ball-tampering scandal, with one focusing on Mitchell Starc's response to Usman Khawaja's claims and the other on Khawaja defending himself against accusations that he used the scandal for book sales.”
Al Jazeera
Hedges 1 of 16 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles discuss related issues surrounding Usman Khawaja's memoir and Cricket Australia's stance on reopening an investigation, but they describe different specific incidents or statements.”
Dawn
Hedges 1 of 25 claims Outlet record 72/100
“The articles discuss related topics but describe different events: Article A focuses on Khawaja's comments and denial regarding the scandal, while Article B addresses criticism over using the scandal to sell books.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
24
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
2 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
69/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-10 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 10218 article(s) · 24 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 24 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Scott Bailey
2 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
Khawaja insisted he stood to make little extra out of his memoir even with strong sales, and he would likely have made the same amount of money without bringing up the scandal.
“So I’m very confident that whatever challenges he comes up against in whatever conditions, that he will be able to succeed.”
2026-11-02 · assertive framing · Why Aussies believe Green won’t be in a spin in India
Also by Scott Bailey
Why Aussies believe Green won’t be in a spin in India
2026-11-02 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Aussie Australian Cape Town Penguin South Africa

Subjects

Khawaja PERSON · 10× Penguin ORG · 3× Aussie NORP · 2× Australian NORP · 2× Cape Town GPE · 2× Cricket Australia ORG · 2× South Africa GPE · 2× Steve Smith PERSON · 2× Usman Khawaja PERSON · 2× Nic Maddinson PERSON · 1×

Narrative

'This has never been about commercial gain, so whatever you want to feel that's up to you, but these are the facts.' The retired cricketer has doubled down after he came under fire from over the bombshell 'sandpapergate' revelations in his memoir Sabr, which was released on Tuesday Khawaja is expected to address the saga on ABC's 7.30 on Tuesday night. Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg on Tuesday ruled out calls by Aussie cricket legend Jason Gillespie to reopen an investigation into the scandal, believing players would never agree on the facts.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-10
Khawaja insisted he stood to make little extra out of his memoir even with strong sales, and he would likely have made the same amount of money without bringing up the scandal.

Claims (24 extracted, 2 hedged)

Retired Aussie cricketer Usman Khawaja has emphatically denied using the ball-tampering scandal to drive up book sales, declaring: 'I don't need the money.' Khawaja has come under fire from some quarters over the bombshell 'sandpapergate' revelations in his memoir Sabr, which was released on Tuesday. asserted
which → retire → Tuesday
Included in Khawaja's claims was that the entire Australian team knew of the use of sandpaper during a 2018 Test against South Africa in Cape Town, and that it had been used in the previous match uncertain
it → include → match
Former teammate and recently dropped Test opener Nic Maddinson this week labelled the situation as 'disappointing' and suggested Khawaja has 'books to sell'. uncertain
Khawaja → drop → books
But Khawaja has insisted he wanted to spill on the saga as part of a promise to David Warner, who was initially painted as the architect of the ball-tampering plot. asserted
who → insist → plot
Khawaja also claimed that Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft had been victims, with a Cricket Australia investigation finding that only those three were aware of the plan. asserted
three → claim → plan
The former Test opener took to Instagram on Tuesday to insist that there had been no deal with publisher Penguin to include a chapter on the 2018 saga in the book. asserted
opener → take → book
'I did not negotiate a thing with Penguin when it came to sandpaper or any other topics in my life,' Khawaja said. asserted
Khawaja → negotiate → life
Usman Khawaja (pictured with wife Rachel) emphatically denied using the ball-tampering scandal to drive up sales for his newly-released memoir Khawaja (right) claimed was that the entire Australian team knew of the use of sandpaper during a 2018 Test against South Africa in Cape Town. asserted
team → picture → Town
He's pictured with Steve Smith, who was one of three players suspended over the incident ' asserted
who → picture → incident
We didn't even talk about it. asserted
We → talk → it
I signed with them in 2023 and all they said to me was tell your story and I had total control of everything that went in and went out. asserted
that → sign → everything
Just over two years later I handed them my final draft. asserted
I → hand → draft
This was the first time I showed them my book. asserted
I → show → book
Penguin was shocked. asserted
Penguin → shock → ?
My management was shocked. asserted
management → shock → ?
Khawaja insisted he stood to make little extra out of his memoir even with strong sales, and he would likely have made the same amount of money without bringing up the scandal. asserted
he → insist → scandal
'Before you even start to think about royalties and book sales, I have to sell so many books for royalties to kick in,' he said. asserted
he → start → books
'I don't think I will ever get there. asserted
I → think → ?
And even if it does, it's pennies. asserted
it → do → ?
'With all due respect guys, I played cricket for a long time. asserted
I → play → time
I don't need the money. asserted
I → need → money
'This has never been about commercial gain, so whatever you want to feel that's up to you, but these are the facts.' The retired cricketer has doubled down after he came under fire from over the bombshell 'sandpapergate' revelations in his memoir Sabr, which was released on Tuesday Khawaja is expected to address the saga on ABC's 7.30 on Tuesday night. Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg on Tuesday ruled out calls by Aussie cricket legend Jason Gillespie to reopen an investigation into the scandal, believing players would never agree on the facts. asserted
players → want → facts
Several players have denied any prior knowledge of the use of sandpaper by Bancroft on the ball during the 2018 Cape Town Test, including Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon. asserted
players → deny → Cummins
Beyond the ball-tampering saga, Khawaja also writes of being abused with a racial slur in the Lord's long room during the controversial 2023 Ashes Test. asserted
Khawaja → write → Test
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