"Darren Lehmann Got Off Lightly": David Warner Speaks Up On Ex-Australia Coach's Ball-Tampering Role

David Warner feels Darren Lehmann got off easily in the ball-tampering scandal© AFP

Former Australia cricketer Usman Khawaja's decision to reopen the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal has put the national team, former coaches, and several players under the spotlight. While David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft were the ones to be sanctioned for the offense, Khawaja has claimed that the entire team knew about the ball-tampering attempt and played along. Darren Lehmann, then Australia coach, resigned voluntarily after the scandal but escaped Cricket Australia's sanction.

Now, Warner has endorsed the views of Chris Broad, father of former England pacer Stuart Broad, suggesting Lehmann got away lightly, but should've been sanctioned.

"I am very angry at Lehmann. Lehmann surely knew all about it (ball tampering), and if he did not, he should not have been the coach at the time. And I think he has got away lightly because, OK, he left his job a few months later, but he did not get any sanctions," Chris Broad said in an interview.

"And there he was in 2013, taking the moral high ground against my son, where he played the Australian game of nicking the ball and waiting for the umpire to give him out... and then came out in the media saying 'we are going to make him cry when he comes to Australia next," he added.

Endorsing the views, Warner wrote on X (formerly Twitter), that he couldn't agree more with Chris Broad's comments.

"I couldn't agree more, and that's hard for me to say," Warner posted on social media.

@wearetrackradio @StuartBroad8 @markpougatch I couldn't agree more and that's hard for me to say!

— David Warner (@davidwarner31) November 10, 2026

Cricket Australia's investigation into the ball-tampering scandal suggested that Lehmann had no prior knowledge of the ball-tampering plot. While players Smith and Warner received 12-month bans and Bancroft received a 9-month suspension, Lehmann faced no official disciplinary sanction.

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