{"id":4075,"date":"2026-11-09T15:03:46","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T10:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4075"},"modified":"2026-11-09T15:03:46","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T10:03:46","slug":"warner-backs-khawajas-comments-about-ball-tampering-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4075","title":{"rendered":"Warner backs Khawaja’s comments about ball-tampering scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

David Warner said on Monday that former Australian teammate Usman Khawaja\u2019s comments that the entire team had been aware of the plan to tamper with the ball during a 2018 tour \u200bof South Africa were \u201c100 per cent accurate\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Warner and fellow batsmen Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft \u200cwere banned over the plan to rough up the ball with sandpaper during the third test at Newlands in Cape Town.<\/p>\n

In an excerpt of his autobiography<\/u><\/a> released on Saturday, Khawaja said \u201copen, lighthearted discussions\u201d about tampering were not confined to \u200bbatters, bowlers or staff but extended throughout the team.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, he added that he had chosen \u200bto speak about the \u2019Sandpapergate<\/u><\/a>\u2019 scandal now after promising childhood friend Warner that he \u2060would share his side of the story.<\/p>\n

In a video posted on Instagram, Warner thanked Khawaja and \u200bsaid Cricket Australia\u2019s investigation into the incident was flawed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis whole interview process was rushed and botched,\u201d added \u200bWarner, who retired from international cricket in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cUzzie was sitting next to Cameron Bancroft. Uzzie was not interviewed. How is that a thorough investigation? It baffles me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cricket Australia did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.<\/p>\n

Warner said \u200bhe and Khawaja were looking for accountability.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not here to point fingers, and we\u2019re not opening \u200bold wounds,\u201d added the 40-year-old.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about accountability, transparency and ensuring the truth is properly examined and perhaps it\u2019s time \u200cpeople \u2060stop scrutinising the person asking for accountability and start asking those responsible of the investigation to provide it.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, there was a lot of statements and inaccuracies over the last eight years that were out in the media by people and there were a lot of people who stayed silent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, Cricket \u200bAustralia (CA) defended its 2018 \u200bprobe which concluded that \u2060prior knowledge of the plot was confined to Smith, Warner and Bancroft.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll relevant information presented to CA to date has been properly considered and we \u200bremain comfortable with the findings of our integrity process,\u201d it said in \u200ba statement \u2060on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been the ongoing opportunity to present any relevant information, and this remains the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

The four Australian bowlers who played in the 2018 test \u2014 Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon \u2014 \u2060issued a \u200bjoint statement in 2021 denying any knowledge of the plot.<\/p>\n

Cummins, \u200bnow the Australian Test captain, said last month he had spoken with Khawaja<\/u><\/a> about the upcoming release of his autobiography and dismissed \u200bsuggestions that the book could trigger further fallout.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Warner said on Monday that former Australian teammate Usman Khawaja\u2019s comments that the entire team had been aware of the plan to tamper with the ball during a 2018 tour \u200bof South Africa were \u201c100 per cent accurate\u201d. Warner and fellow batsmen Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft \u200cwere banned over the plan to rough up the ball with sandpaper during the third test at Newlands in Cape Town. In an excerpt of his autobiography released on Saturday, Khawaja said \u201copen, lighthearted discussions\u201d about tampering were not confined to \u200bbatters,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4075\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}