Updated ,first published
David Warner’s manager has called for Australian cricket to have an honesty session after Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg ruled out re-opening an investigation into the 2018 sandpaper saga.
Greenberg told radio station SEN he had spoken to a number of players since Usman Khawaja’s claims about the events of Cape Town surfaced at the weekend in anticipation of his book, Sabr, released on Tuesday.
He said he respected Khawaja and his right to tell his side of the story candidly, but there were other players in that team whose versions of events differed markedly, and a new inquiry was unlikely to change that.
“People have very different views of what happened, and recollections of what happened,” Greenberg said.
“I read his comments over the weekend in the media at exactly the same time as the public, and I’ll, obviously, get to read his book at some point. But there are specific details in his book that contradict the versions that have been provided by others, and I want to be really careful to consider what Usman’s actually said and not respond to the headlines or the substantive commentary that gets created.
“It’s important to attribute his words and not the headlines, and 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.
“But 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 again, I don’t think there’s anything that can be gained from that.”
Warner’s manager James Erskine said it was time all players involved in the scandal spoke freely.
“I personally don’t think it should be re-investigated, what should happen is everyone should be honest for once,” Erskine said.
“If it is reopened, it should be independently done outside of Cricket Australia. Sandpapergate is not one event, it’s a whole series of events that led to them being caught. That’s the narrow path – it’s a much bigger picture than that.
“Sandpapergate is for the series. The whole thing started in Hobart when they lost there [in 2016]. All the people that signed NDAs knew about it.”
Greenberg, a former CEO of the Australian Cricketers’ Association, has intricate knowledge of the details behind the bans handed to Australian captain Steve Smith and opening batsmen David Warner and Cameron Bancroft for their roles in the ball-tampering at Cape Town.
Khawaja’s book details how the Australian team started using sandpaper in Port Elizabeth – now Gqeberha – in the Test before Bancroft was caught on camera in Cape Town, and he states it was common knowledge within the team.
He again took to social media on Tuesday, this time declaring he had hidden his version of events in Cape Town, even from his manager and publisher Penguin until six months ago.
“People have been trying to move and shift the narrative from the truth to attacking me and my intentions, so, cool, less chat about it. Lots of people are saying that I used ‘sandpaper’ for my book sales … that is 100 per cent false,” he said.
“I did not negotiate a thing with Penguin when it came to ‘sandpaper’ or any other topics in my life – we didn’t even talk about it.”
Australia’s four bowlers in South Africa in 2018 – including Cummins – issued joint statements in 2021 denying knowledge of the use of sandpaper in Cape Town but only Mitchell Starc has commented on Khawaja’s claims.
Greenberg, who had spoken with Khawaja about his book before it was released, said the bowlers, all still playing, remained steadfast in their belief they were unaware of any plans to tamper with the ball.
“There’s no doubt that you’ll hear from Pat, and you’ll hear from other players over the coming days or weeks,” Greenberg said.
Warner broke his silence on Monday as his long-time manager, James Erskine, claimed CA did not want to discover the full story at the time of the scandal.
Former fast bowler Chadd Sayers, who was also part of that tour, also backed Khawaja’s claims. But Greenberg said on Tuesday he would not reopen an investigation that in 2018 was led by then CA chief James Sutherland and former head of integrity Iain Roy.
The investigation in 2018 was restricted to what happened in Cape Town, and had to be completed quickly as Australia had another Test to play days later in Johannesburg.
What continues to baffle Khawaja is why he was not interviewed by Roy, despite sitting next to Bancroft in the dressing room through the Cape Town Test.
“Well, again, there are degrees of what people knew, and that’s been covered over time. But I can only take every individual on their word, and I have to respect each person’s version of their events,” Greenberg said.
“Ultimately, the decisions, the deliberations, the sanctions of the past, I don’t think can be fairly judged by the events of today. And as I said, I think trying to solve that is an impossible outcome.”
Greenberg’s refusal to reopen the investigation follows a call by Peter Collins, the former director of Australia’s Centre for Ethical Leadership, who helped facilitate a player review in the aftermath of the 2018 Cape Town scandal, that the review should be reopened.
Collins, who worked alongside former Test opener Rick McCosker in interviewing players in the team at the time, told this masthead on Saturday: “On the basis of what Usman Khawaja has written, this raises questions that Cricket Australia needs to investigate further”.
Michael Clarke said his predecessor as Test captain, Smith, would likely still have the job if not for the fallout of 2018, and the matter deserved to be re-examined.
“We haven’t moved on. Australian fans have not moved on. They can’t trust what’s real. They don’t know the truth. Until this gets reopened and the truth comes out,” Clarke said.
“We had the chance in 2018. The truth didn’t come out. We had the chance in 2021.
“Now we’ve got this opportunity. I would just like to see whatever the truth is for it all to come out, allow people to finally tell the truth, and move on.
“I can’t believe we haven’t heard from Pat Cummins yet, the Australian captain.
“Steve Smith lost his job. If this doesn’t happen, Tim Paine never captains Australia. And neither does Pat Cummins.
“Pat Cummins would not have captained a game at this stage if Sandpapergate didn’t happen because Steve Smith would still be captain.”
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
Jon Pierik is a sports journalist at The Age. He covers AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect via X or email.From our partners
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
