Khawaja Says 'It Was All of Us' as Memoir Reopens Australia Sandpaper Scandal

Usman Khawaja has blown open one of cricket's darkest chapters, claiming in his new memoir that the entire Australia team and coaching staff knew about the 2018 ball-tampering plot in South Africa. The former opener, 39, says the Khawaja sandpaper scandal account in his autobiography Sabr, due out on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, contradicts Cricket Australia's official findings, which blamed only three players. "It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us," Khawaja told the Sydney Morning Herald, which is serialising the book.

Key Points

• Usman Khawaja claims the whole Australia team and coaching staff knew about the 2018 sandpaper plot, telling the Sydney Morning Herald: "It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us."
• The claim contradicts Cricket Australia's 2018 findings, which held that only captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Cameron Bancroft knew about the plan.
• Khawaja says the idea was discussed openly in the dressing room during the second Test at Gqeberha and first used there, before Bancroft was caught on camera with sandpaper in the third Test at Cape Town.
• Bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon denied any prior knowledge in a joint 2021 statement.
• Khawaja also reveals he hid a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis through his Test career and was never interviewed by the investigation.

What Happened

Khawaja's memoir Sabr — the Arabic word for patience — is published on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, and extracts serialised by the Sydney Morning Herald have already detonated across Australian cricket. In the book, he says the sandpaper idea was no secret hatched by three men, but was spoken about openly in the dressing room during the second Test at Gqeberha, then Port Elizabeth, and first used there.

That was a full match before Cameron Bancroft was caught on television cameras rubbing sandpaper against the ball during the third Test at Newlands in Cape Town. The fallout was swift: Smith and Warner were banned for 12 months, Bancroft for nine, and then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull called the episode "a disgrace". Khawaja says he dedicated the Cape Town chapter to Smith, Warner and Bancroft, and told teammates after the game: "Take this as a team. We did this as a team."

Background and Context

The 2018 ball-tampering scandal, known in Australia as Sandpapergate, remains the defining crisis of modern Australian cricket. In March 2018, during the third Test of a fractious series in South Africa, Bancroft was seen on broadcast cameras using a small piece of yellow sandpaper to rough up one side of the ball, then hiding it in his trousers when he realised the cameras had spotted him. The aim was to make the ball reverse-swing sooner and more sharply.

Cricket Australia's investigation concluded within days that only Smith, Warner and Bancroft had prior knowledge. Smith and Warner were stripped of the captaincy and vice-captaincy and banned for a year; Bancroft received nine months. Coach Darren Lehmann resigned days later. The bowlers issued their joint denial in 2021, after fresh speculation about whether the attack could have been unaware. That statement was widely seen as the final word — until now.

Khawaja Sandpaper Scandal: What the Memoir Changes

Khawaja's account does not prove a new fact about the field — the Cape Town footage settled that eight years ago. It challenges the official story of who knew. Cricket Australia's 2018 findings drew a clean line: three men knew, the rest did not. Khawaja erases that line. If the idea was discussed openly at Gqeberha, the knowledge was collective, and the punishment of three men looks very different now.

Khawaja is a credible witness in a way few others could be. He was a senior member of the touring party, played 86 Tests for Australia, and has never been accused of involvement in the plot. At 39, with his international career behind him, he has little left to gain from the game. That he says he was never even interviewed by the investigation adds a second charge: the inquiry itself was incomplete.

Reactions and Quotes

Khawaja briefed the current Test captain, Pat Cummins, and Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg on the chapter before publication. Cummins, one of the four bowlers who denied prior knowledge in 2021, told Khawaja: "tell your story. It's fine." He has also insisted the matter was dealt with at the time, a position that now sits uneasily alongside the memoir's claims.

The most quoted line from the extracts is Khawaja's own: "It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us." It is aimed squarely at the version of events that let Australian cricket move on in 2018 by punishing three men and clearing everyone else. No response had been reported from Cricket Australia, Smith, Warner or Bancroft when the extracts were published, and the governing body has not publicly revisited its 2018 findings.

Why It Matters

The sandpaper scandal changed Australian cricket. It cost three players a year of their careers, ended a coach's tenure, forced a cultural review, and stained a team that had long presented itself as playing hard but fair. For eight years, the sport's settlement has rested on the idea that the wrongdoing was contained to three men. If Khawaja is right, that settlement was built on an incomplete account, and the reputations of players cleared in 2018 are back in question — including Cummins, who now captains the side.

What Happens Next

Sabr is published on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, and the full Cape Town chapter will be available then. Cricket Australia is likely to face calls to respond, and possibly to explain why Khawaja — a member of the touring party — was never interviewed. Smith, Warner and Bancroft may be asked whether they agree with his version, and the bowlers named in the 2021 statement will face renewed questions. With Australia's home summer approaching, the press that covered the original episode will pursue it hard.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Usman Khawaja claim in his memoir?
He claims the whole Australia team and staff knew about the 2018 plot, discussed openly in the dressing room at Gqeberha and first used there.

What did Cricket Australia's 2018 investigation conclude?
It concluded that only Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft had prior knowledge. Smith and Warner were banned for 12 months, Bancroft for nine.

What did the bowlers say in 2021?
Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon jointly denied any prior knowledge. Khawaja's memoir contradicts that denial.

When is Khawaja's memoir published?
Sabr is due out on Tuesday, November 10, 2026. The Sydney Morning Herald is serialising extracts ahead of publication.

What else does Khawaja reveal?
He hid a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis through his Test career and says he was never interviewed by the investigation.

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