Khawaja says whole Australia team shared blame for 2018 ball-tampering scandal

Usman Khawaja has said he did not throw anyone under the bus after revealing that the entire Australian team was responsible for ball tampering before the 2018 Cape Town Test. He made the comments one day after admitting that sandpaper had been used and that all players shared responsibility.

In a five-minute Instagram explanation, Khawaja said he had planned to go public days after the incident, but suspended former captain Steve Smith talked him out of it. He also tried in 2021 to make the whole team accept blame, but the bowlers issued a public statement denying any knowledge.

“I haven't thrown anyone under the bus.”

Khawaja said he had promised childhood friend David Warner that he would reveal the full details after retirement in his memoir Sabr, due out on Tuesday. He believes Warner, Smith and Cameron Bancroft took the fall for the whole team.

Extracts from the book describe how an Australian player applied sandpaper to a ball in the change room during the second Test against South Africa at St George's Park in 2018. Teammates realised how much the scuffed side would swing, and Khawaja says Bancroft volunteered to use the substance.

The tactic began at the start of sessions when entering the field, then expanded to on-field use in the next Test in Cape Town. Khawaja also alleges that a member of Australia's coaching staff encouraged Bancroft to increase whatever he was doing with the ball.

Umpires Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth confronted Bancroft after television cameras showed sandpaper in his trousers. Khawaja said in a Sunday post that he would not deny everyone knew, and that the three sanctioned players are now being called cheats and publicly humiliated.