Cricket Australia admits there is little hope of reaching agreement on the events of the sandpaper ball-tampering incident, as divisions deepen between the players who were on the 2018 South Africa tour.
The former Australia bowler Chadd Sayers on Sunday said he was confident “everyone” in the Australian Test side knew of the ball-tampering plan, backing Usman Khawaja’s version of what happened.
Sayers, a member of the touring party for the 2018 series, also rejected Pat Cummins’ claim that there was no team meeting to discuss collective responsibility and took aim at the Australian captain for getting “personal” with Khawaja in his press conference on the scandal .
“I’m comfortable sitting here … that I believe that everyone in that side knew what was going on and what was being used,” Sayers told SEN radio on Sunday. “I’m not taking sides. I’m neutral in all this … I’m just trying to tell my side of the story and what I believe happened.”
Cricket Australia responded to the comments later on Sunday. “We respect the right of those in South Africa in 2018 to share their version of what they believe happened on that tour,” a spokesperson said.
“The significant differences in the views expressed continues to demonstrate that it is very unlikely an agreed version of events will be reached without relevant material evidence.”
The scandal has resurfaced in the wake of Khawaja’s autobiography, in which he alleges the entire Australian team had knowledge of the sandpaper plot. Khawaja also claimed the Australians had previously used ball-tampering tactics.
Cummins on Friday hit back at Khawaja, describing the claims as “complete nonsense” and repeating his denial of any knowledge of the ball-tampering plan.
When asked of his thoughts on Cummins’ press conference, Sayers said “it felt a bit awkward”.
“I didn’t like how he [Cummins] did go at Usman and got personal. I probably get why but I don’t think it needed to happen.”
Sayers, whose one and only Test match for Australia was played during that South Africa tour, said it was a “relief now that it’s out there in the open”.
“It’s been hard. Because you’ve got to tiptoe around it and not be able to tell the truth,” he said. “So it’s a bit of a relief that it’s out.
“That series was supposed to be a happy one for me because I debuted the Test after. But I guess when something like that happens it always gets drawn back to that conversation and not your debut.”
Sayers said it was unlikely a resolution will be found.
“I don’t think it’s ever going to settle unless everyone agrees to what happened,” he said. “So in that sense it’s probably not going to settle.”
The former pace bowler also said he did recall a conversation about collective responsibility taking place after the match in Cape Town.
“We all sat in the change rooms after that day’s play, probably for 60 to 90 minutes, and just talked about what had happened and where to next,” Sayers said.
“It was always going to happen with the seriousness of what the allegations were. So it was about what had happened, where we stood with that, and how we were going to move forward.”
In the end three players – David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft – were punished for the incident after an investigation by Cricket Australia.
Earlier on Sunday Warner fired another barb at Cricket Australia in a social media post, doubling down a day after accusing the governing body of a cover up .
Warner has said he wasn’t given all the evidence before taking the brunt of the punishment for the use of the sandpaper in the Cape Town Test.
After several media reports confirmed bowlers had indeed been interviewed by Cricket Australia in its investigation, Warner on Sunday again took to Instagram to support his previous post.
“Just to clarify ‘As far as I am aware’ was the POINT,” he wrote. “I was never told the bowlers had been interviewed or provided statements.
“That information would’ve been pretty useful when I was forced to make decisions back in 2018. Why weren’t we given all the evidence by CA?”
