Overview
- Usman Khawaja told newspapers on Saturday that the entire 2018 touring party knew about using sandpaper to alter the ball during the South Africa series.
- He said conversations about roughing the ball began in the second Test at Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) and that sandpaper was used there before the Cape Town incident.
- Khawaja said he was never interviewed by Cricket Australia’s 2018 investigation even though he sat next to Cameron Bancroft during the Cape Town Test.
- Cricket Australia said it remains comfortable with its original integrity findings but will consider any new, relevant information; no formal reinvestigation or new sanctions have been announced.
- The claims reopen questions about the 2018 outcome that punished Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft and put 2021 denials from senior bowlers back under public scrutiny.