Khawaja Adjusts Book Tour as Ball-Tampering Claims Resurface
Usman Khawaja has pulled out of some radio and television spots on his book tour, as fresh claims about Australia's 2018 ball-tampering scandal draw attention to him. His publisher, Penguin, says the tour is not off.
Penguin told the ABC: "The book tour is 100% still going ahead, we've just had to make some adjustments this week, but no major cancellation of the tour at all." Ball tampering means changing the condition of the ball illegally, to help bowlers swing or reverse it. In this case the method alleged was sandpaper.
The trigger is Khawaja's book, Sabr, which says that "all" members of the team knew about the plan to doctor the ball. On Tuesday night, 10 November, he was interviewed by Sarah Ferguson on ABC's 7.30 Report. Ferguson pressed him on whether anyone beyond Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft knew about the tampering during the 2018 tour of South Africa.
Smith, Warner and Bancroft were sanctioned for the incident in March 2018. The wider question, whether other players knew, is the part that has drawn the most attention.
That question has been answered before. In 2021, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon issued a joint statement denying knowledge of the use of sandpaper. Khawaja's book now puts that denial in direct conflict with his own account.
Warner has backed Khawaja's version. He described the account of the scandal as "100% accurate". That is Warner's own view, and it is the first public comment from a player named in the sanctions to support the book's wider claim.
For casual fans, the key point is that the core dispute is about who knew, not whether the three sanctioned players were involved. The book's claim comes from Khawaja. The 2021 statement comes from the four bowlers. Warner's endorsement is his alone.
Penguin's message is that the promotion will keep moving, with some appearances shifted. Khawaja's schedule and any further comment from the cricket board or the players named will be the next things to watch.
