Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc has rejected claims made by teammate Usman Khawaja that the entire Australian team knew about the infamous 2018 ball-tampering plan during the Cape Town Test against South Africa.
Speaking at Fox Cricket’s season launch, Starc became the first current Australian player to publicly respond to revelations contained in Khawaja’s newly released book, Sabr.
In the book, Khawaja claims that the plan to use sandpaper on the ball was widely known within the team and argues that responsibility should not have fallen solely on Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft, who were the only players sanctioned following the scandal.
Earlier on Monday, Warner publicly backed Khawaja’s version of events, describing the claims as:
“100 per cent accurate.”
However, Starc firmly disputed suggestions that he knew a foreign substance had been taken onto the field.
“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.”
The left-arm paceman reiterated the position he and fellow bowlers Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon took in a joint statement released 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.”
The bowlers’ 2021 statement similarly maintained that they had no prior knowledge of the plot and only became aware of the incident after televised footage appeared on the stadium big screen at Newlands.
“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 statement said.
Starc said his position remains unchanged despite the latest claims.
“Clearly there are differing versions from differing people.”
He also denied any knowledge of Khawaja’s assertion that sandpaper had been used in the Test match immediately before the Cape Town controversy.
The latest exchange has reignited debate around one of the most significant controversies in Australian cricket history, with differing accounts continuing to emerge nearly a decade after the incident that resulted in lengthy bans for Smith, Warner, and Bancroft.
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