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PlayersSandpapergate: Looking back at 2018 ball-tampering scandal and how Usman Khawaja stirred the hornet’s nest
Cricket Australia had handed out hefty punishments to Cameron Bancroft, Steve Smith and David Warner for their involvement in the ball tampering scandal.
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More than eight years have passed since the ball-tampering row in the 2018 Cape Town Test between Australia and South Africa. The sandpapergate emerged as one of the biggest scandals in Australian sport, for which hefty punishment was handed out to Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.
The row was a thing of the past, but the controversy gained fresh spotlight with the release of Usman Khawaja's autobiography titled ‘Sabr’. The former Australian opener claimed that the entire team knew about the ploy and Bancroft, Smith and Warner were hard done by Cricket Australia.
What happened in 2018?
The entire controversy unfolded during the third Test between South Africa and Australia at Newlands in 2018. The TV cameras picked up Bancroft rubbing the ball with a small piece of sandpaper. Once Bancroft realised that the cameras caught his act, he was then seen trying to conceal the sandpaper in his trousers.
As soon as the visual was aired on the big screen, the reactions came in thick and fast, prompting an immediate investigation. The then-captain Smith, vice-captain Warner and Bancroft were held responsible. Smith was found guilty of knowing about the ploy and doing nothing to nip it in the bud.
The trio were sent back from South Africa before the fourth Test, and Tim Paine was made the captain. Smith and Warner were banned from international and domestic cricket for 12 months while Bancroft received a nine-month suspension. Moreover, Warner was ruled out of consideration for a future leadership position with Australia.
Cricket Australia decided on the penalties for the trio after conducting an investigation that will later come under serious scrutiny. No one other than these was suspended or banned, as the investigation did not establish whether they had any knowledge of it. But the sandpapergate raised serious questions about the culture within the Australian team and about the unit's win-at-all-costs mentality.
The bowling group denies any knowledge
Fast forward three years, the sandpapergate once again came under the scanner. It all happened after Bancroft gave an interview to The Guardian. When asked whether the bowlers knew anything about the ball being tampered with, the opening batter replied, “It was self-explanatory.”
During the 2018 Cape Town Test, Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon were all part of the playing XI and Bancroft's comments put a fresh spotlight on the much-famed quartet.
The four bowlers then issued a joint statement in 2021, rejecting all suggestions that they had any prior knowledge of the plan. The statement said that the bowlers were only made aware of the use of sandpaper once they saw the television footage on the big screen at Newlands.
Ever since then, Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood and Lyon have maintained this stance.
Khawaja changes it all
In 2021, Cummins was also appointed Australia's Test captain. Under the pacer's leadership, Australia went on to win the World Test Championship (WTC) in 2023 and also the 50-over World Cup in India. Australia also won a couple of Ashes in between. And the sandpapergate seemed a thing of the past.
However, November 2026 changed it all. Usman Khawaja's autobiography presented a never-before-heard version of what exactly happened during Australia's tour of South Africa in 2018.
In his autobiography and several media interviews, Khawaja revealed that attempts to tamper with the ball were not confined to the three players who were eventually punished. He also added that ball tampering was even done in the second Test in Port Elizabeth.
He claimed that the entire ploy was discussed in the dressing room, and Bancroft volunteered to carry out the plan because Warner was concerned that television cameras might focus on him. Khawaja further added that a member of the coaching staff then instigated Bancroft to do more of whatever he was doing on the ball.
The former Australia opener, who retired earlier this year from international cricket, added that he was pained by the team not taking collective responsibility. He further released a video statement on Instagram, saying he was sticking by his childhood friend Warner.
Warner supports Khawaja
Warner released a video statement on Instagram earlier this week, saying whatever Khawaja said was “100 per cent true.” However, Starc did not budge from the stance he had made clear four years earlier, saying his recollection hadn't changed one bit.
Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg was also asked to comment on the same, and he shot down any suggestions of the investigation being reopened.
Cummins comes out firing
On November 12, Cummins, the Australia Test and ODI captain, posted a statement on X (formerly Twitter), saying he would speak to the media to give his account of the incident and his view of Khawaja's allegations.
On November 13, Cummins began his address, saying he would answer all questions until the journalists ran out of questions and the matter was put to rest once and for all.
The pacer then said that Khawaja was 100 per cent wrong and his allegations were “complete and utter nonsense.” He disputed the idea of there being a “master plan” to illegally alter the condition of the ball to aid reverse swing.
Cummins further added that Khawaja had the right to tell his story, but that shouldn't have been done at the expense of other players and their reputations.
Thrown under the bus
On the same day as Cummins' press conference, Warner once again sided with Khawaja, saying he was disappointed with how the former Australia opener was thrown under the bus by the now captain. He further attacked Cricket Australia, calling the body's 2018 investigation into the matter “botched.”
