David Warner has backed Usman Khawaja's claim that the whole Australia team knew about the 2018 Cape Town ball-tampering plan, and said Cricket Australia's inquiry into it was botched.
Australian cricket treated the scandal as settled: it produced three bans and a finding that blamed three players. Warner's intervention disputes that account and puts pressure on a governing body that says its conclusions still stand.
In a video posted on Instagram on Monday, Warner, 40, said Khawaja's account of the plan to rough up the ball during the third Test at Newlands was correct in every detail.
It’s 100 per cent accurate what you’ve said. Now everyone knows the truth. It’s out there.
Warner called the interview process behind the 2018 sanctions rushed and botched. He asked how the inquiry could have been thorough when Khawaja sat next to Cameron Bancroft but was never interviewed.
Uzzie was sitting next to Cameron Bancroft. Uzzie was not interviewed. How is that a thorough investigation? It baffles me.
How the claim surfaced
An excerpt from Khawaja's autobiography, Sabr, was released on Saturday after the Sydney Morning Herald serialised the book. Khawaja wrote that conversations about tampering were open and lighthearted across the team, involving not only the batters, bowlers and staff.
It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us.
Khawaja said on Sunday he had decided to speak now because he had promised Warner, his childhood friend and former opening partner, he would tell his side of the story.
The sanctions of 2018
Television footage captured Cameron Bancroft using sandpaper on the ball in Cape Town. Smith and Warner received year-long bans for their roles in the scheme. Bancroft was suspended for nine months.
| Player | Ban | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Steve Smith | One year | Banned over the plan to rough up the ball with sandpaper at Newlands |
| David Warner | One year | Banned over the same plan at Newlands |
| Cameron Bancroft | Nine months | Filmed using sandpaper to help generate reverse swing in the third Test |
Cricket Australia stands by its findings
Cricket Australia defended its 2018 inquiry last week, saying its integrity process found that only Smith, Warner and Bancroft knew about the plot beforehand. In a statement on Saturday, it said it had properly weighed all relevant information and remained comfortable with the findings.
The statement was issued on Saturday, the same day the excerpt was published.
There was an ongoing opportunity for anyone to present relevant information, the governing body said, and that remained 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
Three players knew, or the whole team did
Cricket Australia
2018 integrity process
- Prior knowledge of the plot was confined to Smith, Warner and Bancroft
- All relevant information presented to it was properly considered
- It remains comfortable with those findings
- The opportunity to present relevant information stays open
Khawaja and the bowlers
Accounts now on the record
- Khawaja: the discussions ran through the whole team, not the batters, the bowlers or the staff
- Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon denied any knowledge in a joint statement in 2021
Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon, the four bowlers who played that Test, released a joint statement in 2021 saying they knew nothing about the plot. Cummins, now the Test captain, said last month he'd discussed the book with Khawaja and dismissed suggestions it could lead to further fallout.
Warner's case against the investigators
Warner said he and Khawaja wanted accountability, transparency and a proper examination of the truth, not to point fingers or open old wounds. The video opened with an endorsement of Khawaja.
Perhaps it’s time people stop scrutinising the person asking for accountability and start asking those responsible for the investigation to provide it.
Warner said he hadn't spoken about the topic in eight years, while many statements and inaccuracies went unchallenged in the media because many people remained silent.
It’s been eight years since I’ve spoken on this topic, and Uzzi, I throw my full support behind you
Reports differ on how long ago the scandal occurred: most put it at eight years, matching Warner's reference to eight years of statements, while one account says it continues to reverberate six years on.
Warner said he spent the past couple of days speaking to his daughters, which delayed his public response. He had to explain the events to them. His 12-year-old daughter Ivy asked why they were holding her. She also questioned the presence of so many cameras. Ivy wanted to know why the family cried on television.
But one thing I did say was, ‘Girls, tell the truth, because lies will eventually come out’.
The episode kept resurfacing, which was obviously disappointing, Australia opener Maddinson said. Reliving it didn't help the three players most affected, who'd just had a strong series in South Africa over the past month. They still faced comments from the public at airports. Maddinson said the timing, at the start of a big six months for the team, was disappointing.
I think the three guys who were affected the most, it doesn't really help them at all to relive it.
Warner and Khawaja are childhood friends who opened the batting together for Australia for several years, until Warner retired from international cricket in 2024. Khawaja is 39.
Until last week, nobody else involved in the tour had said they were culpable, responsible or knew what was happening.
- 2018Cape Town
Bancroft is filmed using sandpaper in the third Test at Newlands. Warner, Smith and Bancroft are banned.
- 2021Bowlers deny knowledge
Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon issue a joint statement denying knowledge of the plot.
- 2024Warner retires
Warner retires from international cricket.
- Last monthCummins downplays the book
The Test captain says he has spoken with Khawaja and dismisses talk of further fallout.
- Last weekCricket Australia defends its probe
The governing body says all relevant information was properly considered and its findings stand.
- SaturdayExcerpt published
The Sydney Morning Herald releases an excerpt from Sabr.
- SundayKhawaja explains his timing
He says he promised Warner he would tell his side.
- MondayWarner's video
Warner backs Khawaja and criticises the investigation.
What we know
- Warner posted the video on Instagram on Monday.
- Cricket Australia said on Saturday that its findings still stand.
- Smith and Warner were banned for a year and Bancroft for nine months.
Still unclear
- Whether Cricket Australia will reopen or review its 2018 integrity process in light of the two statements.
- Whether Cricket Australia will respond to Warner's criticism of the investigation.
By the time the reports were published, Cricket Australia hadn't replied to an emailed request for comment or responded to Warner's statement.
