If the knowledge was collective, the original finding drew a line that protected the wider squad and the governing body from harder questions about culture and oversight.
Usman Khawaja has reopened one of cricket's most damaging episodes, telling The Sydney Morning Herald that the entire Australian team knew about the 2018 ball-tampering plot in Cape Town, and that the tactic was also discussed during the preceding Test at Port Elizabeth. The claim, published ahead of his autobiography next week, directly contradicts the finding of Cricket Australia's investigation, which held that only Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft had prior knowledge of the plan.
According to Al Jazeera's report of the interview, Khawaja said the knowledge was universal: "It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us." He recounted speaking in the dressing room after the Cape Town Test, urging the side to take collective responsibility rather than let the three punished players carry the blame alone. In the book, he describes discussions in the dressing room at Port Elizabeth about ways to rough up the ball, culminating in the discovery that sandpaper worked. Smith allegedly walked away at that point, saying he did not want to know. Bancroft allegedly volunteered to use the sandpaper in South Africa's first innings at Gqeberha, where the ball swung significantly.
The original sanctions were severe. Smith was banned for a year and sacked as captain; Warner was suspended for twelve months and stripped of all leadership roles; Bancroft received a nine-month ban. Head coach Darren Lehmann was cleared of direct involvement but resigned soon after the series. In 2021, bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon all publicly denied knowing about the plot. Khawaja, who retired this year after 88 Tests, said he had expected the truth to surface sooner, perhaps through Warner or another teammate, and that he did not relish being the one to say it.
Cricket Australia responded that it was "comfortable" with the findings of its original integrity process, while noting that it remains open to new evidence and that any relevant information presented to it would be properly considered. That formulation keeps the door ajar without conceding anything. The board has not said whether it will reopen the inquiry, and it is not yet known whether Khawaja's account will be tested formally or whether other players will corroborate or dispute it.
The significance lies less in the mechanics of the offence than in what the claim says about institutional accountability. If the knowledge was collective, the original finding drew a line that protected the wider squad and the governing body from harder questions about culture and oversight. Cricket Australia's reputation, and the reputations of players who denied knowledge, now rest on a contested account that only a fresh investigation could settle. Until then, the record contains two incompatible versions of what the team knew, and the public has no independent means of choosing between them.
