Warner alleges Sandpapergate cover-up, names 3 star-bowlers in fresh attack
David Warner has questioned the credibility of Cricket Australia's investigation into the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, alleging that the governing body may have deliberately avoided speaking to key members of Australia's bowling attack. In a fresh Instagram post on Saturday, the former Australia opener named Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon, and suggested that the inquiry was designed to protect a particular version of events.
Warner's latest comments have taken the renewed Sandpapergate debate up another notch. He questioned how Cricket Australia could maintain that the bowlers had no knowledge of the ball-tampering plan if, as he understood it, none of the three had been interviewed during the original investigation.
"As far as I am aware, CA did not interview Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc or Nathan Lyon in their 2018 investigation. If that's correct, then how can CA push the idea that the bowlers didn't know?" Warner wrote.
He went further, questioning the intent behind the investigation and suggesting that the findings had been shaped from the outset.
"It looks like they had decided who they wanted to blame from the very beginning, ran a shoddy investigation to serve the purpose and now they want to maintain the false narrative that the bowlers had no idea. That stinks of a cover-up," he added.
The post comes amid renewed scrutiny of Sandpapergate following the release of Usman Khawaja's autobiography, Sabr. The former Australia opener claimed that knowledge of the ball-tampering operation extended beyond the three players who were punished. Warner has backed Khawaja's account, while Australia captain Pat Cummins has rejected the suggestion that the entire bowling group knew sandpaper was being taken onto the field.STARC STANDS BY HIS VERSION
Starc, one of the three bowlers named by Warner, has already responded to Khawaja's claims. Speaking at the launch of Australia's summer of cricket on Tuesday, the left-arm pacer said his recollection of the 2018 incident had not changed and stood by the joint statement issued by Australia's bowling group in 2021.
"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," Starc said.
He also reiterated that the bowlers were unaware of any foreign object being taken onto the field to alter the ball's condition. "We weren't aware anything was taken on the field to be tampered with. We saw it on the big screen in Cape Town," he added.THE ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION BACK UNDER SCRUTINY
Cricket Australia's original investigation held Warner responsible for devising the plan, Cameron Bancroft for carrying it out and then captain Steve Smith for knowing about it and failing to prevent it. Smith and Warner received 12-month bans, while Bancroft was suspended for nine months.
Khawaja has questioned why the inquiry did not extend responsibility to the wider dressing room. Warner has now raised a separate question about whether the three bowlers were interviewed, although his claim remains his understanding and has not been independently established.
The dispute has also drawn a firm response from Cummins, who described Khawaja's suggestion that the entire team knew about the sandpaper being taken onto the field as "100 percent wrong". Warner, in return, accused the Australian skipper of throwing his former teammate under the bus.
Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg has said there is no compelling reason to reopen the investigation, leaving the latest debate centred on sharply conflicting accounts from members of the same team.- Ends
