Durban, a stairwell and a lie: Jim Maxwell remembers how Australia got to sandpaper-gate

In the past week, Usman Khawaja claimed that the entire Australian team was aware of the sandpaper in Cape Town, while Pat Cummins disagreed and David Warner agreed with Khawaja. Jim Maxwell, a commentator for ABC radio during the Boxing Day Test in December 2024, offered his perspective on the events that transpired in Durban. Maxwell recalled the outrageous behavior displayed by the Australian team during that Test match, where Nathan Lyon and Mitch Starc abused Quinton de Kock with obnoxious language.

The umpires, Kumar Dharmasena and S Ravi, were criticized for their lack of intervention. Maxwell felt that the Australian team was building up a sense of dissatisfaction, which ultimately led to the ball-tampering incident. Prior to the Port Elizabeth Test, where Kagiso Rabada was banned for bumping into Steve Smith, and later cleared on appeal, Maxwell wrote to Cricket Australia's CEO, James Sutherland, expressing his concerns about the team's behavior.

He believed that the tampering charges were a result of the team's dishonesty and lack of integrity.