What is the story about?
After giving explosive details in pre-release interviews, Usman Khawaja's autobiography 'Sabr', which was released today, detailed the entire sandpaper
gate saga, where the Australian team was caught tampering with the ball during the 2018 tour of South Africa. This led to player Cameron Bancroft, who was spotted by cameras using sandpaper to shine one side of the ball, receiving a nine-month ban from the game, while then captain and vice-captain Steve Smith and David Warner were suspended for a year by Cricket Australia (CA) Khawaja dismissed various public statements from Australian players on being unaware of the incident and claimed the entire team knew that sandpaper was being used. He claimed that the governing body had its own agenda at the time and did damage control by punishing only three players. “I personally never tampered with a ball – in terms of scratching it or anything – but I knew everything that was going on and I wasn’t against it, which makes me complicit. Everything you might have heard or read about what happened … in South Africa in the sandpaper controversy isn’t entirely true. The cricket team management and Cricket Australia board at the time had their own agendas and they tried their best at damage control and to cover up as much as they could. “I won’t speak on behalf of any other players – that’s for them to talk about. Of course, I bloody knew what was happening with the sandpaper. I always wanted to talk about it. I never said I didn’t know about the sandpaper issue – not to anyone or any news organisation. I would never blatantly lie like that," said Khawaja.
Sandpaper Used In Second Test Too
While it was in the third Test at Cape Town that cameras of the host broadcaster caught the Australian team red-handed, leading to the severe penalties by CA, Khawaja has revealed that the Smith-led side had used the same technique during the second Test at Gqeberha. He revealed Bancroft volunteered to use the sandpaper.
“We all knew that the umpire would drop the ball on the boundary as we went out onto the field. At that point, there’d be no cameras on us and the umpires would be about 100 metres ahead. We could then do whatever we wanted. Straightaway, Bull [David Warner] said, ‘Well, I can’t do it – they’re all over me.’ I was never going to do it, nor did I think anyone else would. So I just laughed. Then, Cameron Bancroft, who was only six games into his Test career and maybe wanting to fit in, said, ‘I’ll do it.’
“When something becomes so prevalent – like doping was in the Tour de France for years – it’s hard not to join in. Compete, or be left behind. Not that it makes it right," said Khawaja.
"The next session, we absolutely went through the South Africans. Bangers had walked onto the field after the break, picked up the ball that the umpires had left on the field, and given it a few twists and turns. The ball came up a treat. The shiny side was shiny and, thanks to sandpaper, the reverse side was really rough and dry. Every time during the session the ball was passed to me at gully, I'd take a look and think, Wow, even I could reverse swing this ball.. It was ridiculous. The bowlers then went to work and bowled beautifully. Reversing it around corners. We got four wickets for 28 runs.I know what you're probably thinking right now. Didn't you guys get caught in Cape Town, not Port Elizabeth? Yes, we did, but who said we didn't do it the game before as well?"
“One of the bowlers said in the huddle after a wicket, ‘Guys, it’s going heaps now. Just don’t do anything else to it, because it’s silly how much it’s going.’ Most of us just laughed," he added, stressing that the fast bowlers knew what was going on despite them publicly denying it," Khawaja added.
Khawaja also claimed that a coach encouraged Bancroft to continue doing it and handed him the sandpaper himself.
"Whatever you’re doing, we need more of it. Then I saw Bangers pick up a piece of sandpaper and put it in his pocket. The coach gave both me and Cameron a wry smile of satisfaction and walked away. The push from this coach, though, obviously made him feel like he had to do it more often," wrote Khawaja.
Ball Tampered During Ashes
Khawaja further claimed that before the tour of South Africa, the team also managed to work on the ball during the Ashes and worked out a way to get it to reverse swing. He referred to the pink ball Test in Adelaide and the WACA test match in which Starc bowled the famous delivery to James Vince.
"On day five, Starcy bowled that unforgettable ball to James Vince off the crack. We were reverse swinging it late on day five. Actually, we were reverse swinging the ball the game before too - except it was much tougher, because it was the pink ball. But we - and I say 'we', because were a team, whether you did the deed or not - had worked out that, if we raised the flaps up on the quarter seam on that ball, it was almost like it had a rudder on it and it'd start reverse swinging.And before you start going at me, calm down. The whole world was doing whatever little they could to try and reverse swing the ball," Khawaja wrote.
Big Screen Shock
Khawaja revealed that when the big screen showed footage of Bancroft using sandpaper on the ball, the team knew they were in trouble. “But Cameron was catatonic at this stage. He didn’t know what to do. Every one of the boys on the field then was shitting themselves. And Bangers was the worst.Then on the big screen came the biggest shock. It showed Cameron taking the sandpaper and putting it in his undies. By this stage, we knew: we’d f---ed up and f---ed up hard," said Khawaja.
Wanted To Speak Out Before
Khawaja claimed he was always in favour of the team taking collective responsibility for the incident, but two people disagreed with him. He also lashed out at CA for not investigating the issue properly and accused them of wanting to bury the truth. He further stated it was not fair that Warner, Smith, and Bancroft had to take the blame.
“This was the most disappointing part for me. I knew who those two guys were, and it was ludicrous that, out of everyone, it was them. It showed me their true colours, though. When the going got tough, all they cared about was themselves. But I wasn’t going to stop fighting this cause. CA did a pretty unthorough investigation after that. It was almost as if they didn’t want to find out the whole truth," said Khawaja in the book.
"This has been the hardest chapter to write … I still don’t think it’s right that those three boys copped all of the brunt. Their lives were turned upside down, and the psychological impact will remain with them forever. Unless I speak up about it, they’ll continue to have to hold the burden. It’s very clear I knew what was going on. I just want to say sorry to the three guys. We let you down. But mostly to the guy who copped the lion’s share of the blame, my good friend David. You shouldn’t have to carry this your whole life. Over the years, you’ve suffered more insults than anyone about this. You were not the architect. We were all the architects," Khawaja dded.
Khawaja further revealed being disappointed at a pacer going to a TV show and claiming he did not know about the plan, and Warner sending him the clip. He further stated that he wanted to go public before the fourth Test after the trio had gone back home but then head coach Darren Lehmann asked him not to.
"One of the bowlers went on The Back Page TV show and was asked point-blank if he'd known anything about the ball tampering. He flat out denied it. David was seething, and understandably so. I remember him texting me and sending the clip. He listened to what I had to say, and when I finished my rant he just looked at me and said, "Uzzy, unfortunately, this affects everyone, mate, not just you. You can come out and say all this stuff, but will it really help anything? The punishments have already been handed down. If anything, it would only make things worse.'', said Khawaja.
'I Was Natural Selection For Captaincy'
Meanwhile, Khawaja claimed that he was surprised at not being named captain of the side after the incident and Tim Paine being named Steve Smith's replacement. He claimed that they were ready to make a 'brown Australian cricket captain'
“I was a natural selection for interim captain, but was overlooked. I knew why. One reason was that I’d been a main protagonist during those pay disputes with CA and the board – and the board was who appointed the captain. On that basis alone, they probably weren’t going to give it to me.
“But the second – and, I believe, more important – reason was that they weren’t ready for a brown Australian cricket captain, even as an interim. You may be thinking, How do you know this? It’s because the chairman of selectors had told a journalist I know very well that ‘Uzzy doesn’t “have” what we want in a captain. He doesn’t display the right stuff.’ I was pretty sure I knew what that meant. I didn’t fit the old-school Aussie mode or have the right skin colour for the job. It’s cool, but at minimum I should have got the vice-captaincy. Instead, they’d given it to Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh. For one of the more mature players, who’d been captaining his own state for a few years, that was a kick in the guts," Khawaja concluded.
