Former Australian opener Usman Khawaja has made explosive claims from the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal with powerful revelations from his upcoming autobiography Sab*. In excerpts released ahead of the book’s
November 10 launch, the former left-hander claimed that knowledge of the sandpaper incident extended beyond Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. He also alleged that discussions about tampering with the ball had taken place during the second Test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth, before the controversy erupted during the Cape Town Test.
🚨 SHOCKING REVELATIONS BY USMAN KHAWAJA IN HIS BOOK. 🤯
– Khawaja claims that everyone in the Australian team knew about the 2018 sandpaper scandal.
– He also claims that Australia had been involved in ball tampering even before the incident in which they were caught. https://t.co/4TTCg8HB7x
— Sheri. (@CallMeSheri1_) November 6, 2026
“It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us,” Khawaja said. He claims open discussions about roughing up the ball began in the dressing room during the second Test at Port Elizabeth. Sandpaper was discovered as an effective method, and Bancroft even volunteered to use it then. At that point, according to the book, Steve Smith “essentially threw his hands in the air and said he didn’t want to know.”
Khawaja sat next to Cameron Bancroft throughout the Cape Town Test and says a staff member’s exchange helped trigger the events. After the match he urged collective accountability: “Even in the change rooms when I was talking to them after the game, I said, ‘Take this as a team’. We did this as a team. We knew what was going on, and we have to take it as a team.”
He never wanted to be the one speaking out. “In an ideal world, I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to be the one who comes out and talks about the truth. The issue is that I genuinely thought after eight years the truth would have been out by now.” Khawaja also said he was never interviewed by Cricket Australia investigators despite his position and stance. The chapter is dedicated to Smith, Warner and Bancroft, whom he believes were unfairly left to carry the full burden.
What happened in 2018 Sandpapergate incident
In March 2018, during the third Test against South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town, Australian batsman Cameron Bancroft was caught on television cameras using sandpaper to rough up one side of the cricket ball. The aim was to create reverse swing for Australia’s bowlers in a hard-fought, ill-tempered series. On day three, with South Africa batting in their second innings, Bancroft was filmed applying the sandpaper. Realising he had been spotted on the big screen, he tried to hide the yellow piece down the front of his trousers.
Umpires questioned him and he initially claimed it was tape used to collect dirt from the pitch. Captain Steve Smith later joined a press conference where both admitted to attempting to change the ball’s condition. Cricket Australia’s investigation found that vice-captain David Warner devised the plan, Smith knew about it but failed to stop it, and Bancroft carried it out.
All three were sent home while Smith and Warner received 12-month bans from international and domestic cricket. Bancroft was suspended for nine months. Smith was barred from the captaincy for two years while Warner faced a lifetime leadership ban (later overturned). The scandal shocked the cricket world and damaged Australia’s reputation.
