Usman Khawaja says the whole Australia squad knew about the 2018 sandpaper plot in South Africa, and that it was used a Test earlier too.
South Africa's 2018 Test series against Australia is back in the spotlight. Usman Khawaja now says the sandpaper scandal that rocked Cape Town was no work of a few rogue players. In his words, "it was all of us."
The former Australia opener claims every member of the touring party knew about the plan to tamper with the ball. He also says the sandpaper wasn't a one-off at Newlands. According to Khawaja, the team used it during the second Test in Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha) before Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera handling the object in the third Test in Cape Town.
The claims come ahead of the release of Khawaja's autobiography, Sabr, on Tuesday. They put fresh pressure on the official version of events, which pinned the blame on a small group.
Cricket Australia has not shifted its position. The governing body remains "comfortable" that bans for only Bancroft, David Warner and Steve Smith were the right outcome, even as Khawaja's account suggests the knowledge, and the tampering, went much wider.
