Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc has rejected Usman Khawaja’s claim the 2018 sandpaper ball-tampering plot was known by all members of the team.
Speaking at Fox Cricket’s season launch, Starc became the first current player to respond to the revelations in Khawaja’s new book, Sabr.
In the book, released today, Khawaja says the plan to use sandpaper on the ball in the Cape Town Test was common knowledge among the team, and his pleas to have the entire squad take the blame fell on deaf ears.
David Warner, who, along with Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft, was among the only men punished for the scandal, said today that Khawaja’s claims were “100 per cent accurate”.
But Starc insisted he did not know a substance was being taken onto the field in Cape Town.
“Obviously there are differing opinions of eight years ago,” Starc said.
“We were heavily grilled through the process at the time and since. I won’t speak on behalf of the bowlers, but, from where I stand, my opinion hasn’t changed, and my recollection hasn’t changed from what we said in 2021.
“We weren’t aware anything was taken on the field to be tampered with. We saw it on the big screen in Cape Town.”
In 2021, Starc joined fellow bowlers Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon in releasing a statement disputing any suggestion they had wider knowledge of the ball-tampering plans.
“We did not know a foreign substance was taken onto the field to alter the condition of the ball until we saw the images on the big screen at Newlands,” the 2021 statement said.
Starc said his stance had not changed since that statement was released but that “clearly there are differing versions from differing people”.
Starc also said he knew nothing about Khawaja’s claim sandpaper had been used to tamper with the ball in the Test before Cape Town.
Mitchell Starc bowls during the second Test of the 2018 series at St. George’s Park. (AP: Michael Sheehan)
Earlier today, Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg said there were no plans to reopen the investigation in light of Khawaja’s assertions.
“There are specific details in his book that contradict the versions that have been provided by others,” Greenberg said.
“It’s important to know that back at that time, players were urged to come forward, and they had the opportunity to do so over these past eight years, and that remains the case.
“We have said we’re comfortable with the outcome of the investigation based on the information we’ve received.
“That includes what we’ve seen from Usman, and our position hasn’t changed on that.
“We don’t see any compelling reason to open the investigation or revisit this. I don’t think there’s anything that can be gained from that.”
Starc said he had not spoken to Khawaja in recent days. He said he had not read the new book and “probably won’t read it”.
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