Cricket Australia rules out new ball-tampering inquiry after Khawaja and Warner claims

Cricket Australia will not reopen its investigation into the 2018 ball-tampering scandal despite fresh claims from Usman Khawaja and public support for his account from David Warner. ABC News reported on November 10 that chief executive Todd Greenberg said the governing body saw no compelling reason to conduct another inquiry.

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Speaking to radio station SEN, Greenberg said elements of Khawaja's account conflicted with versions supplied by other people. He said players had been encouraged to provide information at the time and remained able to do so. Cricket Australia, he added, was still satisfied with its findings after considering the information it had received, including Khawaja's account.

Khawaja's book, Sabr, alleges that the entire Australian Test team knew about the use of sandpaper. According to ABC News, he also claims it had been used in the Test before the Cape Town match in which Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera. Those claims remain disputed rather than newly established findings by Cricket Australia.

Warner endorsed his former opening partner in an Instagram video on Monday, ABC News reported. The former vice-captain said Khawaja's account was accurate and criticised the investigation's handling. He questioned why Khawaja had not been interviewed despite sitting beside Bancroft, arguing that the process had moved too quickly and had not adequately examined the events.

Warner said his intervention was about scrutiny of the investigation and responsibility for its conduct, rather than assigning blame to individuals. He thanked Khawaja for speaking publicly and said attention should also be directed towards those who had overseen the inquiry, according to ABC's account of the video.

The original incident occurred during Australia's third Test against South Africa in Cape Town in 2018. BBC Sport reported that Warner and then-captain Steve Smith received one-year bans, while Bancroft was suspended for nine months. The BBC also noted that Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon issued a joint statement in 2021 denying knowledge that a foreign substance had been taken onto the field.