Ehtisham Qudrat: Former Australia opener David Warner has accused Cricket Australia (CA) in a post on Instagram on Saturday, November 14, of conducting a flawed investigation into the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, questioning whether the governing body interviewed Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon during its inquiry into the incident.
In his post, Warner said he was unaware of any interviews involving the three bowlers during Cricket Australia's 2018 investigation. He questioned how the governing body could maintain that the bowling group had no prior knowledge of the ball-tampering plan if those players had not been questioned.
"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?" Warner wrote.
Warner raised the allegations, expressing doubts over the investigation that resulted in suspensions for three Australian players following the infamous Sandpapergate controversy.
He further alleged that Cricket Australia had decided who would take responsibility for the controversy from the beginning and described the investigation as "shoddy".
"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," he added.
Sandpapergate Controversy Returns to Spotlight
The controversy dates back to the third Test between Australia and South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town in March 2018, when Australian batter Cameron Bancroft was caught on television cameras attempting to alter the condition of the ball using sandpaper.
Following the incident, Cricket Australia conducted an investigation and found that then-captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Bancroft were involved in the plan.
The governing body subsequently handed one-year suspensions to Smith and Warner, while Bancroft received a nine-month ban. Smith was also removed from the captaincy, while Warner was handed a lifetime leadership ban at the time.
The controversy has resurfaced following revelations in former Australian opener Usman Khawaja's autobiography, Sabr, in which he claimed that the entire Australian team knew about the plan to tamper with the ball.
Khawaja also said he had heard discussions about using sandpaper while sitting next to Bancroft but was not contacted during the investigation.
Cummins and Other Bowlers Reject Allegations
Meanwhile, Australia's current Test captain Pat Cummins rejected Khawaja's claims during a lengthy press conference on Friday, November 13, describing the allegations as "complete and utter nonsense".
Cummins, who was part of Australia's bowling attack during the 2018 Cape Town Test, maintained that he had no prior knowledge of the plan to use sandpaper.
The four bowlers who featured in that Test, including Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon, had also jointly issued a statement in 2021 denying any prior knowledge of the ball-tampering plan.
Meanwhile, reports have challenged Warner's latest claim. According to a report by The Age, citing two sources familiar with the matter, Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon were interviewed as part of Cricket Australia's original investigation.
Cricket Australia has also responded to the renewed controversy, stating that all players were given the opportunity to speak during the initial investigation and could come forward with new evidence in the years since, according to The Associated Press (AP).
The governing body has previously indicated that it does not intend to reopen the investigation, despite renewed questions surrounding the events of the 2018 Cape Town Test.
Reader Comments 0