David Warner has broken his eight-year silence on Sandpapergate, backing Usman Khawaja’s claim that the whole Australian team knew about the ball-tampering plan during the 2018 tour of South Africa and calling Cricket Australia’s investigation “rushed and botched”.
In a video posted on Instagram on Monday, Warner thanked his former teammate for coming forward. “Uzzy, I throw my full support behind you. I thank you for what you’ve done. It’s 100 per cent accurate, what you’ve said. Now everyone knows the truth, it’s out there,” he said.
Warner said he had waited a couple of days before speaking so he could talk to his daughters first and explain what happened in Cape Town, including his 12-year-old Ivy, who wanted to know why there were cameras and tears on television. “Girls, tell the truth. Because lies will eventually get out,” he told them.
Khawaja’s revelations come from excerpts of his autobiography, Sabr, published by the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday. He claimed that knowledge of the ball-tampering operation extended beyond the three players who were punished, and that the plan was discussed openly across the whole team. “It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us,” he said. He also claimed sandpaper was used in the preceding Test in Port Elizabeth too, and that he pushed for the team to accept collective responsibility — a suggestion two teammates opposed.
Warner reserved his sharpest criticism for the investigation that followed. Khawaja sat next to Cameron Bancroft throughout the Cape Town Test yet was never interviewed by Cricket Australia. “Now, this whole interview process was rushed and botched. Uzzy was sitting next to Cameron Bancroft. Uzzie was not interviewed. How is that a thorough investigation? It baffles me,” Warner said.
Bancroft was caught on camera using sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball during the third Test at Newlands, and Warner, then captain Steve Smith and Bancroft were all banned. Warner received a 12-month suspension and a lifetime leadership ban, lifted by an independent review panel in 2024.
Cricket Australia defended its 2018 probe last week, maintaining that prior knowledge of the plot was confined to Smith, Warner and Bancroft. The four bowlers who played in that Test — Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon — issued a joint statement in 2021 denying any knowledge of the plan.
Khawaja has since addressed the backlash in Instagram videos, insisting he never tried to single out his former teammates. Warner said reopening the incident was painful for his family and for Smith and Bancroft, but added: “This is what needed to come out.”
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