Cricket Australia will not reopen the investigation into the 2018 ball tampering controversy reignited by the release this week of Usman Khawaja’s book, which alleged more than the three players suspended had knowledge of the sandpaper plan.
Captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and batter Cameron Bancroft were handed long bans following a short Cricket Australia investigation into the incident.
Khawaja alleged more than those three players were aware of the team’s ball-tampering, including the use of sandpaper during the preceding Test, and that his calls for the players to take collective responsibility at the time were rebuffed.
Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg told SEN radio on Tuesday there was not “any compelling reason” to revisit the investigation, even though there are “specific details” in Khawaja’s book “that contradict the versions that have been provided by others”.
Greenberg only stepped into his role last year, but was chief executive of the Australian Cricketers Association in 2021 when Bancroft told the Guardian he “lost control of [his] values” .
That interview triggered a response from Pat Cummins and his fellow bowlers in Cape Town that they had no knowledge of the ball-tampering .
Mitchell Starc addressed Khawaja’s comments on Tuesday afternoon, saying he was not aware sandpaper was used in the Test before Cape Town and that his recollection of the Test at Newlands had not changed from what the bowlers said in 2021.
“As far as our statement said, we weren’t aware of things being taken on the field, that’s where I’ll leave it,” he said.
Warner criticised the investigation when speaking on Monday, saying it was “rushed and botched” .
Greenberg said establishing another inquiry into the events of 2018 would not benefit anyone.
“You end up at the same intersection where one person’s version of events contradict the others, and I’m not sure what outcome people are searching for,” he said.
“I think what people want is a single outcome that everyone is aligned up on, but I don’t think that’s possible on this occasion because we have such conflicting views from the same moment in time.”
Khawaji countered suggestions that he has sought to take advantage of the sandpaper controversy to sell books.
“With all due respect guys, I played cricket for a long time, I’m very fortunate, I don’t need the money,” he said on Instagram. “This has never been about commercial gain.”
He said his publisher, Penguin Random House, and manager were not aware of his intention to cast new light on the events of 2018 when he signed the book deal in 2023, and he is unlikely to benefit financially from the controversy stirred by his account.
“I could have written blah blah blah blah blah throughout the whole book and I’d be paid the same,” he said.
“And before you even start to think about royalties and book sales and all this other jabber, I have to sell so many books for royalties to even kick in, I don’t reckon I will ever get there. And even if it does. It’s pennies. Anyone who’s written a book will tell you the same.”
