This Australian team was already under pressure. Khawaja’s allegations could finish it off
The Test series defeat in South Africa exposed a struggling batting order, an ageing bowling attack and a captain under fire. England, here for a white-ball tour, will be loving it – and rightly so.
Former Australian opener Usman Khawaja has reignited discussion around the 2018 ball-tampering scandal that saw captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner, and bowler Cameron Bancroft banned from cricket. Khawaja, in his new autobiography (Sabr), claims the entire team was aware of the cheating during the series against South Africa.
He states that the tactic was used before the high-profile match in Cape Town when Bancroft was caught using sandpaper on the ball. Despite being cleared of direct involvement, coach Darren Lehmann eventually resigned from the team. Khawaja insists that the bowlers, including current captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon, knew about the foreign substance being placed on the field.
However, the four bowlers who played in the match have previously stated they were unaware of it. Cricket Australia maintains its satisfaction with the integrity process conducted back then, emphasizing that no new information has come to light in the eight years since the Cape Town Test.
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- Usman Khawaja claims entire Australia team knew about sandpaper ball-tampering thenationalnews.com
- Australian cricketer Khawaja disputes findings in 2018 ball-tampering probe dailytimes.com.pk
- Why Usman Khawaja’s meeting with Anthony Albanese got ‘heated’ smh.com.au
- This Australian team was already under pressure. Khawaja’s allegations could finish it off theage.com.au
