Khawaja Says “It Was All of Us” as He Reopens Australia’s Sandpaper Scandal

Usman Khawaja has reopened one of the deepest wounds in Australian cricket, claiming that the entire touring party knew about the sandpaper plot that disgraced the national team in South Africa in 2018.

The retired opener makes the claim in his autobiography, Sabr, extracts of which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday. He says knowledge of the plan went far beyond the three players Cricket Australia punished.

“It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us,” Khawaja told the newspaper, which is serialising the memoir.

A claim that contradicts the official findings

Cricket Australia’s investigation into the scandal concluded that only three men had prior knowledge of the plan to use sandpaper on the ball: captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, the junior player caught on camera carrying it out during the third Test at Newlands in Cape Town in March 2018.

Smith and Warner were banned for 12 months. Bancroft, who was filmed roughing up the ball with a piece of sandpaper, received a nine-month suspension. Until now, nobody else involved in the tour had admitted any knowledge of what was happening.

Khawaja, who batted at No. 3 at Cape Town, says that account is wrong. He also says he was never interviewed as part of Cricket Australia’s original investigation, and that he briefed current captain Pat Cummins and Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg about the contents of the book before publication.

Sandpaper used a Test earlier, Khawaja says

According to the extracts, the story began a match earlier. Khawaja says open, lighthearted discussions about roughing up the ball took place in the dressing room at St George’s Park in Gqeberha — then Port Elizabeth — during the second Test.

He says Smith walked away from one conversation, suggesting he did not want to know. At a break in play, Bancroft volunteered to use sandpaper during South Africa’s first innings, and the ball swung lavishly.

A week later at Newlands, cameras caught Bancroft in the act and the scandal exploded; Smith later admitted he had known about the plan and failed to stop it.

Khawaja also claims Australia were trying to keep pace with a South African side he describes as far better at working on the ball — though that rests on something he says he heard from another player.

“Take this as a team”

Khawaja says he urged his team-mates to share the blame in the hours after the scandal broke, rather than letting three men carry it alone.

“Even in the change rooms when I was talking to them after the game, I said, ‘Take this as a team. We did this as a team’,” he said. “We knew what was going on, and we have to take it as a team, and so I was always of that stance.”

He dedicated the Cape Town chapter to Smith, Warner and Bancroft. On why he spoke out now, he added: “I don’t want to be the one who comes out and talks about the truth. The issue is that I genuinely thought after eight years the truth would have been out by now.”

Cricket Australia stands by its findings

Cricket Australia moved quickly to defend its investigation. In a statement issued on 7 November, the board said: “All relevant information presented to CA to date has been properly considered, and we remain comfortable with the findings of our integrity process.”

The board has not announced any fresh investigation in response to the claims.

The claims are especially awkward for the four bowlers from the 2018 side — Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon — who denied any knowledge in a joint statement in 2021. Former coach Darren Lehmann, who resigned shortly after the series despite being cleared of direct involvement, has also questioned Khawaja’s suggestion that everyone in the touring party knew about the use of sandpaper.

Why this still matters eight years on

Sandpapergate remains the defining scandal of modern Australian cricket. It cost Smith the captaincy, ended Warner’s hopes of leading the side again, and forced a reckoning with the team’s culture.

Khawaja, who retired in January 2026 after 88 Tests, was cleared of wrongdoing in the original investigation. His account accuses no individual of a new offence, but it directly challenges the version of events Australian cricket has lived with for eight years.

Whether the governing body revisits the case or lets the memoir speak for itself, Khawaja’s argument is simple: three men were punished for something he says a whole team knew about.

It has been a week of unexpected turns across sport: Kristaps Porzingis stepped away from basketball to prioritise his health, the NCAA won an appeal over fifth-year eligibility, and Luka Doncic scored 53 points for the Lakers on Friday night.