David Warner accuses Cricket Australia of ‘cover-up’ over sandpaper scandal

David Warner has accused Cricket Australia of a “cover-up” as the fall-out from Usman Khawaja’s allegations over the sandpaper scandal continues.

Former vice-captain Warner was one of three players, along with Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft, who was banned over the 2018 ball-tampering controversy.

But Khawaja’s newly-released autobiography contained a series of explosive claims about the episode, suggesting that the entire squad were party to the plot.

Warner was swift to back Khawaja’s claims, and has followed up with a new social media post in which he claims Cricket Australia (CA) had sought to make the trio scapegoats over the affair.

Warner wrote: “As far as I am aware, CA did not interview Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc or Nathan Lyon in their 2018 investigation.

“If that’s correct, then how can CA push the idea that the bowlers didn’t know? It looks like they had decided who they wanted to blame from the very beginning, ran a shoddy investigation to serve the purpose, and now they want to maintain the false narrative that the bowlers had no idea.

“That stinks of a cover-up.”

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Khawaja concluded: “It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us.”

But Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon signed a statement in 2021, along with fellow bowler Pat Cummins, denying all knowledge of the affair.

Cummins strongly denied Khawaja’s claims at a press conference this week, describing them as “complete and utter nonsense”, and adding: “When he says we all knew, if that he means we knew sandpaper was going out on the field, he’s 100 per cent wrong.”

Cricket Australia has already indicated that it has no intention of reopening its investigation into the incident, saying in a statement: “There has been a great deal of speculation in the eight years since the 2018 Cape Town Test, including extensive media coverage throughout last month’s series in South Africa.

“During this time there has been the ongoing opportunity to present any relevant information, and this remains the case.

“All relevant information presented to CA to date has been properly considered and we remain comfortable with the findings of our integrity process.”