Former Australia bowler Chadd Sayers has challenged Pat Cummins’ account of the sandpaper scandal, restating his belief that “everyone in that side” was aware of the ball tampering plot.
Sayers, who was 12th man in the ill-fated Newlands Test and won his only cap in the subsequent match, has lined up alongside Khawaja, having previously claimed “everything Usman said was accurate”.
Speaking to SEN Radio ahead of the second ODI against England in Adelaide, the 39-year-old said: “I’m comfortable sitting here right now and where I stand on the situation, that I believe everyone in that side knew what was going on and what was being used.
“It [sandpaper] was used in two Test matches and there were discussions in change-rooms of how we were going to get the ball to reverse and what was going to be used.
“My recollection isn’t as clear as it was obviously eight years ago, I just know that there were numerous conversations of it around in the change-rooms. I knew that it was going to be used, as I believe everyone else did.”
Sayers also revealed his own role, which involved taking the offending item off the field when he was performing his 12th man duties.
“The plan was that Cameron Bancroft was going to take that out, the ball was going to be dropped on the ground by the umpires, and he was going to go about business,” he said.
“[The sandpaper] was given to me to take off. I was just the player who took the drinks out at the time. [I came] on to the field with drinks and, yeah, it was passed on to me.
“I was trying to fit into the Australian side, probably similar to Cam Bancroft, and we were probably a young demographic then. We didn’t know how big it was going to get and I guess you probably don’t think you’re going to get caught doing it.”
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Martin Samuel explains what impact Usman Khawaja’s claims that the entire Australia team were aware of the ball-tampering scheme in South Africa in 2018 could have on next summer’s Ashes series in England
Sayers stated the issue of who would publicly accept responsibility was discussed by the team for between 60 and 90 minutes – another detail Cummins has denied being part of.
Reflecting on his admissions, the 39-year-old added: “It’s been hard because you obviously got to tiptoe around and not be able to tell the truth.
“It’s probably a relief now that it’s out there in the open and now you can speak openly about it. It’s a bit of a relief that it’s out.”
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