Ex-Australia bowler backs Usman Khawaja’s ‘Sandpapergate’ claims, reveals everyone knew about incident

Australian bowler Chadd Sayers bowls on the second day of the fourth Test against South Africa at the Wanderers on March 31, 2018. | Photo Credit: AFP

Former Australian Test bowler Chadd Sayers backed Usman Khawaja over his “Sandpapergate” claims on Sunday, contradicting Pat Cummins’ denials that he knew nothing about the ball-tampering plot.

Sayers was on the tour of South Africa but did not play in the third Test at Cape Town, where sandpaper was used to help make the ball swing.

A Cricket Australia probe concluded only then-skipper Steve Smith, his deputy David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were in the know, with all sent home and banned.

But Khawaja alleged in his autobiography last week that the whole team was aware, a claim strongly backed by Warner and now Sayers.

“I believe that everyone in that side knew what was going on and what was being used,” the retired Sayers, who played in the fourth Test at Johannesburg, told SEN radio.

Khawaja also alleged sandpaper was used in the second Test at Port Elizabeth, with Sayers saying he was the one who took it from the field.

“It (sandpaper) was given to me to take off, so that wasn’t planned or anything. I was just the player who took the drinks out at the time,” he said.

“It was used in two Test matches, and there were discussions in the change rooms of how we were going to get the ball to reverse and what was going to be used.”

Cummins, now the Test captain, held a lengthy press conference on Friday to rubbish Khawaja’s allegations, calling them “100 per cent wrong”.

The bowling group of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon and Cummins all denied publicly in a 2021 statement that they were aware of the plan.

READ: ‘Stinks of cover up’: Warner claims ‘shoddy investigation’ of sandpaper-gate by Cricket Australia

Cricket Australia has ruled out reopening its investigation.

Warner on Saturday accused the governing body of “a cover-up”, saying that “as far as he knew” they did not interview Hazlewood, Starc or Lyon at the time.

“If that’s correct, then how can CA push the idea that the bowlers didn’t know?" he said.

After numerous media reports confirmed the bowlers had indeed been interviewed, Warner on Sunday posted another statement on Instagram.

“Just to clarify, ‘As far as I am aware’ was the POINT,” he wrote.

“I was never told the bowlers had been interviewed or that they provided statements. That information would’ve been pretty useful when I was forced to make decisions back in 2018.