Usman Khawaja Says It Was All of Us as Whole Australia Team Knew Sandpaper Plan

The Usman Khawaja sandpaper claim is blunt: the whole Australia cricket team knew about the plan in 2018.  In his new book Sabr, he writes that every player knew what was happening. He puts it in plain words: “It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us.” Only three players were punished at the time, and the official finding said only those three had prior knowledge. Khawaja says that finding was wrong, and he is ready to say so in public now that he has retired from international cricket.

Quick Facts

What Khawaja Says Happened in Port Elizabeth

The most important part of Khawaja’s account is not Cape Town. It is the Test before Cape Town. He says sandpaper was discussed openly in the dressing room during the second Test at Port Elizabeth, now called Gqeberha. The talk was not hidden, coded or limited to a few players. The whole team was in the room, the subject was on the table, and nobody needed to guess what was being discussed. That detail matters, because it removes the idea that a small group kept the plan from the rest of the side.

Khawaja also says sandpaper was used on the ball in that second Test too, not only at Cape Town where the cameras caught it. He says he urged his teammates after the scandal to take collective responsibility, and he says his childhood coach Bill Anderson tried to persuade team members to collectively admit they had known. Khawaja also says Australia were trying to keep up with South Africa’s own ball-handling methods, and he says Steve Smith eventually threw his hands up and said he did not want to know the details.

Why Cape Town Changed Everything

The third Test at Cape Town, played at Newlands in March 2018, is the match the world remembers. Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera using sandpaper on the ball, and the pictures travelled around the world within hours. The footage was clear, the reaction was fast, and the damage to Australian cricket was deep. Bancroft, Steve Smith and David Warner received lengthy bans, and the three men became the public face of the scandal. Australian cricket spent years trying to rebuild its image.

Khawaja’s claim reopens the question of whether that punishment told the full story. Only those three were sanctioned, and the official finding was that only they had prior knowledge. If the whole team knew, as Khawaja now says, then the line between the guilty and the innocent was not as clean as the finding made it look. The public was given a simpler story than the one Khawaja says really happened.

Usman Khawaja Sandpaper Claim vs the 2021 Denial

In 2021, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon released a joint statement denying they knew anything about the plan. The four bowlers put their names to a clear denial, and at the time it seemed to settle the question for the bowling group. Khawaja’s claim contradicts that statement directly. He says all of the team knew, which includes the bowlers, and he says the knowledge was open, not hidden. The two accounts cannot both be true in full, and that is why this book has drawn so much attention before it has even reached the shops.

It is important to be careful here. Khawaja is making a claim about what other people knew, and those people have already denied it on the record. The book does not, on the basis of the extracts published so far, provide a document or a recording that proves the claim. It provides Khawaja’s memory and his account of conversations in the dressing room. That is strong testimony, but it is still testimony. Khawaja says he briefed captain Pat Cummins and Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg about the book before publication. Sport moves fast, as shown by the recent story on Mohammed Shami retiring from Test cricket,

The Investigation Khawaja Says Never Spoke to Him

One of the most surprising claims in the extracts is about the investigation itself. Khawaja says he was never interviewed by Cricket Australia’s investigation, even though he sat next to Cameron Bancroft in the dressing room throughout the Cape Town Test. He was in the room, beside the man at the centre of the scandal, for the whole match, and yet, according to Khawaja, nobody from the investigation asked him what he saw or heard. Khawaja believes investigators knew he would tell the truth.

If his account of the seating is right, the gap is hard to explain. An investigation into a dressing room plan would normally want to speak to the players who were closest to the action, and a player sitting next to Bancroft for a full Test would be an obvious person to interview. The fact that Khawaja says he was not interviewed raises a fair question about how complete the investigation was, even if it does not prove that the finding was wrong. The recent Spurs win over the Kings behind Wembanyama and his 30 points shows how quickly one game can dominate the news.

What Cricket Australia Said in Response

Cricket Australia issued a statement on Saturday, November 7, 2026, the same day the extracts were published. The statement said all relevant information presented to it has been properly considered and it remains comfortable with the findings of its integrity process. No fresh investigation was announced. The wording is careful. It does not call Khawaja a liar, and it does not say his account is false. It says the body has considered the information put to it and it stands by its earlier findings.

The response leaves the story in an awkward place. Khawaja has made a serious claim, Cricket Australia has said it is comfortable with its findings, and no new inquiry has been opened. For now, there are two versions of events and no new process to decide between them. That may change if more players speak or new evidence comes to light. The Age of Melbourne will carry an extract on Sunday, before the book releases on Tuesday, November 10, 2026. The recent Luka Doncic scoring 53 points as the Lakers beat the Trail Blazers was a public act, while this story is about a hidden act told years later.

What Happens Next for the Book and the Story

The book releases on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, and the next few days will tell us how far this story travels. If other players from the 2018 team respond, their words will matter as much as Khawaja’s. If Cricket Australia holds its line and no fresh investigation is opened, the claim will remain a claim, widely reported but not formally tested.

The claim also raises a wider question for cricket. When a team cheats, who carries the blame? Is it only the players caught on camera, or is it the whole group that knew and said nothing? Khawaja’s answer is clear: it was all of us. It asks cricket to think about collective responsibility, not only individual punishment. Khawaja has written Sabr, it releases on November 10, 2026, and in the extracts he says the whole Australia team knew about the sandpaper plan.

Did the whole Australia team know about the sandpaper plan in 2018?

Usman Khawaja says yes. In Sabr, he claims the entire team knew, and he says the plan was discussed openly during the second Test at Port Elizabeth. Cricket Australia has not accepted that claim. Its official finding was that only Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft had prior knowledge, and the 2021 statement from four senior bowlers also denied any knowledge.

When does Usman Khawaja’s book Sabr come out?

Sabr releases on Tuesday, November 10, 2026. The full title is Sabr: Finding My Way in Cricket and Life, and the book runs to 448 pages. Khawaja wrote it himself. Extracts were published on Saturday, November 7, 2026, three days before release, and The Age of Melbourne will carry an extract on Sunday.

Why was Usman Khawaja not interviewed by the investigation?

Khawaja says he was never interviewed, even though he sat next to Cameron Bancroft in the dressing room throughout the Cape Town Test. He believes investigators knew he would tell the truth. Cricket Australia has not explained why he was not interviewed, and its statement on November 7, 2026, said only that it remains comfortable with the findings of its integrity process.

Will Cricket Australia open a fresh investigation?

No fresh investigation was announced on Saturday, November 7, 2026. Cricket Australia said it remains comfortable with the findings of its integrity process. That could change if new evidence appears or if other players speak out, but on the basis of the extracts published so far, the governing body has chosen to stand by its earlier findings rather than reopen the case.

Sources

ESPNcricinfo: It was all of us: Khawaja exposes sandpaper details from 2018

CricTracker: It was all of us: Usman Khawaja reveals entire Australian team knew of 2018 ball-tampering plan

Gazette Herald: Usman Khawaja lifts lid on Australia sandpaper scandal

Final Thoughts

Usman Khawaja has waited eight years to tell his version of the sandpaper story, and he has chosen to tell it in a book he wrote himself, under his own name, after retirement. That choice gives his words weight, but it does not settle the argument. The official finding still says only three men had prior knowledge, four senior bowlers still stand by their 2021 denial, and Cricket Australia still says it is comfortable with its integrity process. Khawaja says it was all of us, and he says the team should have owned it together. Readers will be able to judge the full account when the book releases on Tuesday, November 10, 2026.