Khawaja says Australia team knew of 2018 sandpaper plan

Former Australia batter Usman Khawaja says the entire team and coaching staff knew about the sandpaper plan behind the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, challenging the account that only three players were aware of it. His recollection, shared in excerpts from his memoir and an interview, has reopened debate over responsibility for the incident during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town. “It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us,” Khawaja said. He said he had long favoured the team taking collective responsibility, rather than leaving Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft to bear the consequences alone. Khawaja also said discussions about roughing up the ball took place in the dressing room during the preceding Test at Port Elizabeth, now Gqeberha. He said sandpaper was identified there as a way to alter the ball. During the Cape Town Test, television footage showed Bancroft using sandpaper on the ball. Khawaja said Cricket Australia did not interview him during its investigation. The investigation’s reported finding was that Smith, Warner and Bancroft were the only players who knew of the plan. Smith and Warner received...