Starc reacts to Khawaja’s claims about Sandpapergate — Australia pacer denies allegations

“My recollection hasn’t changed,” said Mitchell Starc as he rejected former teammate Usman Khawaja’s assertions that the entire Australian team was a part of the 2018 Sandpapergate conspiracy even though only three players ended up being punished for the scandal.

In his soon-to-be-released book, Khawaja has said that then captain Steve Smith, vice captain David Warner and opener Cameron Bancroft were made scapegoats by the game’s administrators even though the entire team was aware of the plan to use sandpaper to alter the ball during the Cape Town Test against South Africa.

In addition to the one-year suspension from playing, Smith and Warner also copped leadership bans from Cricket Australia.

Starc, who was part of that team, said it was not his place to comment on the claims and he stands by a statement of innocence that he made in 2021.

“. . . I guess I won’t speak on behalf of the bowlers but where I stand, my opinion hasn’t changed, my recollection hasn’t changed from what we said in 2021,” Starc said referring to the joint statement he issued along with Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon, denying prior knowledge of the plan.

“That’s obviously in a book. That’s for someone to explain further. As far as our statement said in 2021, we weren’t aware of things being taken on the field. That’s what we will leave it for. I haven’t really paid much attention to be fair,” he added.

Khawaja has found support from Warner, who has described his revelations as “100 per cent accurate”.

However, Cricket Australia has ruled out a fresh inquiry, insisting that there is no “compelling reason” to revisit the scandal that created an image crisis for game’s governing body in the country.

(With inputs from PTI)

Published on Nov 10, 2026