Mitchell Starc breaks silence on Usman Khawaja’s fresh sandpapergate claims, saying his account has not changed, as Cricket Australia ruled out a new investigation.
Starc was questioned at a Sydney season-launch event on Tuesday, the day Sabr went on sale.
What Khawaja claims in his book
In Sabr, Khawaja claims the Australian team used sandpaper to alter the ball during the second Test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth, before the scandal came to light in Cape Town. He also claimed Smith, Warner and Bancroft were not the only people who knew about the plan.
Geo Super reported that Khawaja gave fresh detail about the final session of the second day at St George’s Park, when South Africa lost four wickets for just 28 runs while replying to Australia’s first-innings total of 243. South Africa had generated reverse swing in fewer than 25 overs, while Australia had struggled for similar movement after 40 to 50 overs. Khawaja recalled warning Bancroft about the risks, telling him: “This isn’t Shield cricket”, a reference to the television cameras covering the match.
Khawaja claimed Bancroft picked up the ball left on the field by the umpires after the interval and worked on it using sandpaper. “The ball came up a treat. The shiny side was shiny and, thanks to sandpaper, the reverse side was really rough and dry,” he wrote.
Khawaja recalled that one of the Australian bowlers raised concern about the amount of movement. “It was moving so much that, at one point, one of the bowlers said in the huddle after a wicket, ‘Guys, it’s going heaps now. Just don’t do anything else to it, because it’s silly how much it’s going’,” he wrote.
South Africa still won the match, largely thanks to AB de Villiers, who scored an unbeaten 126 off 146 balls.
Warner and Sayers back the account
Warner has since backed Khawaja’s account, describing his revelations as “100% accurate”. Former Australia fast bowler Chadd Sayers, who was part of the squad in Cape Town and played the following Test in Johannesburg after the suspensions, also supported the claims. “Everything Usman says in his article is accurate,” Sayers told Channel 7 on Saturday. The claims build on Khawaja’s original revelations, covered on this site on November 7, in which he said he was never interviewed as part of the original investigation, despite sitting alongside Bancroft throughout the Cape Town Test.
Greenberg: no benefit in going back
Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg has dismissed fresh calls to reopen the 2018 investigation, saying the board is satisfied with the original findings.
“There’s absolutely no benefit in going back. That’s the clear position of the CA board. I think it’s time we’ve got to look ahead, and the matter was dealt with under previous leadership back in 2018,” Greenberg told SEN Radio.
Greenberg said he had not yet read the book but had spoken to Khawaja, and to players from the Cape Town dressing room whose accounts differed sharply from Khawaja’s version.
“I can assure you, there are lots of other players who have a very, very different version of events, and they’ve made that very public from the very start in 2018,” he said.
Starc breaks silence: stands by the bowlers’ statement
Starc faced questions at Sydney’s Golden Sheaf pub on Tuesday during a promotional event marking the launch of Australia’s upcoming cricket season. He was pressed on the Cape Town Test, which led to bans for Warner, Smith and Bancroft.
In 2021, Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood and Lyon jointly denied any knowledge of the incident. Asked about it again, Starc said his position had not changed.
“I haven’t really paid much attention to it, to be fair. Obviously, there are differing opinions about eight years ago. We were heavily grilled throughout the process at the time and since then,” he said. “Now, I guess I won’t speak on behalf of the bowlers, but where I stand, my opinion hasn’t changed, and my recollection hasn’t changed from what we said in 2021.”
Asked whether the bowlers knew about the plot, Starc pointed to the earlier statement. “That’s obviously in a book, so that’s for someone to explain further. As far as our statement said, we weren’t aware of sandpaper being taken onto the field,” he added.
Khawaja did not name any of the four bowlers. With Greenberg closing the door on a new inquiry, what the bowlers knew looks set to stay a matter of competing memories, not a formal finding. The row has broken out while Test cricket is in full swing, with Pakistan hosting Sri Lanka at home, England preparing for a series in Australia and West Indies clinching their series in Bangladesh.
Frequently asked questions
What does Khawaja claim in his book Sabr?
He claims Australia used sandpaper to alter the ball during the second Test in Port Elizabeth in 2018, before the Cape Town incident, and that Smith, Warner and Bancroft were not the only ones who knew about the plan.
What did Mitchell Starc say?
Starc said his opinion and recollection have not changed since the bowlers’ 2021 joint statement, in which he, Cummins, Hazlewood and Lyon denied knowing about the ball tampering.
Will Cricket Australia reopen the investigation?
No. Chief executive Todd Greenberg said there was “absolutely no benefit in going back” and that the board was satisfied with the original 2018 findings.
Who has backed Khawaja’s account?
David Warner called the revelations “100% accurate”, and former fast bowler Chadd Sayers said everything Khawaja wrote was accurate. Reports say another Cape Town squad member has also backed him.
Did Khawaja name any of the bowlers?
No. He wrote that one bowler warned teammates not to tamper with the ball further, but he did not identify any of Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood or Lyon.
