Cricket Australia rejects new inquiry after Khawaja's Sandpapergate claims

The dispute returns Australian cricket to its 2018 tour of South Africa. Cameron Bancroft was caught damaging the ball while fielding in Cape Town, according to Express & Star. The scandal became known as Sandpapergate.

The disciplinary consequences fell on Bancroft, David Warner and Steve Smith. The Guardian reported that Cricket Australia remained comfortable with bans being limited to those three players.

Usman Khawaja now challenges the account of how widely the scheme was known. His claim, reported by ABC Australia on November 6, is that all players and staff knew the team was using sandpaper to tamper with the ball.

On November 6, the first reports of Khawaja's account widened the allegations beyond Cape Town. The Guardian reported his claim that sandpaper had also been used on the ball in Port Elizabeth, during the same tour.

By November 7, the claims were drawing pushback. Times now reported that Darren Lehmann had downplayed them and linked their publication to selling books. Express & Star subsequently reported that the former Australia coach denied Khawaja's claims of widespread knowledge.

On November 8, Khawaja defended his decision to speak publicly. He insisted he had not "thrown anyone under the bus", according to Sky Sports, which reported that the claims appeared in excerpts from his autobiography. Al Jazeera reported that he also denied the revelations were a marketing ploy.

The timing became part of the dispute. On November 8, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Khawaja's account that he had been ready to speak in 2021 but did not want to "go to war" with Australia's bowlers, who had denied knowing about a plan to tamper with the ball.

On November 9, Warner publicly backed him. Khawaja's recounting was "100% accurate", Warner said, according to the BBC. The Guardian reported that Warner gave his full support to the claim that every player knew about the sandpaper plot.

Cricket Australia will not launch another investigation. ABC Australia reported that decision on November 9, attributing it to chief executive Todd Greenberg. On November 10, Guardian Sport reported that the organisation saw no "compelling reason" for another inquiry.

Greenberg has supported Khawaja's right to tell his version, while saying it does not match what some other team members say, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Warner's support therefore strengthens Khawaja's account without resolving the conflicting recollections.

Khawaja's book reached shelves on November 10, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. For now, the new claims have reopened the public argument, but not the official investigation.

The central unresolved issue is who knew about the sandpaper scheme, and when. Khawaja's account directly conflicts with the bowlers' earlier denials reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, and Lehmann's denial reported by Express & Star. With Cricket Australia ruling out another inquiry, those accounts remain unreconciled.