Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg has ruled out reopening the investigation into the sandpapergate ball-tampering scandal. Speaking on Tuesday, he said he did not see “any compelling reason” for a new probe.
The decision came as opening batsman Usman Khawaja’s autobiography, released on Tuesday, renewed debate over the 2018 cheating controversy. Australian players were caught using sandpaper to alter the ball’s swing during a series against South Africa. Khawaja writes that the plot was common knowledge throughout the team, not confined to a few players.
Cricket Australia rejects fresh sandpapergate probe
Greenberg said he would consider Khawaja’s revelations, which fellow opener David Warner had backed on Monday as “100 percent accurate.” He nonetheless said no further action was needed.
Speaking to a local radio station, Greenberg said the board did not believe anything useful would come from reopening the matter. “We don’t see any compelling reason to open the investigation or revisit this again,” he said.
Captain Steve Smith, his deputy Warner and Cameron Bancroft were sent home in disgrace once the ball tampering was exposed. A Cricket Australia investigation found they were the only three players with prior knowledge of the plot.
Khawaja and Warner challenge the official account
Khawaja, who retired this year after 88 Tests, devotes a chapter of his book “Sabr” to the scandal. In comments to a Sydney newspaper ahead of the release, he said: “It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us.”
Warner, who was suspended for 12 months and received a life ban from future captaincy or leadership roles over his part in the affair, posted an Instagram video on Monday in which he backed his close friend. “Uzzie, I throw my full support behind you,” he said. Warner, who retired in 2024 after 112 Tests for Australia, added that the book was about acknowledging wounds that never properly healed.
Earlier denials from Cummins, Lehmann and others
Pat Cummins, now Australia captain, and bowlers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon all publicly denied in 2021 that they knew about the plot. Darren Lehmann, who was head coach at the time, has also denied there was widespread knowledge among the players.
Smith was banned for a year and sacked as captain over his role in the furore during the third Test in Cape Town. Bancroft was given a nine-month ban.
