Warner makes bombshell sandpapergate claim involving Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon

David Warner has accused Cricket Australia of a cover-up of the Sandpapergate ball-tampering scandal.

In another explosive escalation of the saga that has rocked Australian sport, Warner took to Instagram to claim the governing body did not interview Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc or Nathan Lyon as part of its investigation in the days after the Cape Town Test of 2018.

David Warner appeared on a Kayo Sports panel on Friday. The former opener has thrown his weight behind friend and former teammate Usman Khawaja.AAPWarner made the claim early on Saturday afternoon, a day after he accused Test captain Pat Cummins of throwing Usman Khawaja under the bus after the release of his memoir, Sabr.

“As far as I am aware, CA did not interview Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc or Nathan Lyon in their 2018 investigation,” Warner posted to Instagram.

“If that’s correct, then how can CA push the idea that the bowlers didn’t know?

David Warner’s post to Instagram on Saturday.Instagram“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.”

This masthead has reached out to representatives of Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon for comment.

Cricket Australia released a statement in response to Warner’s allegation, saying the organisation respected the differing recollections among the 2018 playing group.

The statement did not say if any of the three players were interviewed by investigator Iain Roy.

“As we have stated previously, all players were given the opportunity to speak at the time of the initial investigation [into the ball-tampering saga] and have had the ability to come forward with new evidence in the eight years since,” a CA spokesman said.

“Subsequently, CA has respected every player and former players’ right to provide their own version of events.”

CA chief Todd Greenberg said this week the governing body would not be reopening the investigation, despite Khawaja’s allegations.

Warner hit out at Cummins on Friday, just hours after his former Test captain delivered an extraordinary 69-minute press conference denying any knowledge of the sandpaper plot.

“Pat Cummins was very well-prepared this morning and I still stick by what Uzzy [Usman Khawaja] said, what he’s written in that book,” Warner told Fox Cricket. “That is the truth and I really, really support him [Khawaja]. I’m actually feeling for him at the moment.

“I actually feel that the captain today actually threw Uzzy under the bus, and I’m very, very disappointed about that.

“Each person is going to have their differences, but I’m not going to accept them until the truth is out there.”

Earlier on Saturday, former Pakistan captain and legendary swing bowler Wasim Akram – whose family is based in Melbourne – took to X to give his take on Sandpapergate.

“I saw Pat Cummins, who’s a very close friend of mine, [a] great cricketer, one of the top leaders in world cricket, the way he leads his team from the front, and he said he didn’t know [about any plot to tamper with the ball],” Akram said.

“It’s my opinion, and it can be right or wrong, but as a bowler, when the cricket ball comes in my hand, either it’s the fifth over, either it’s in the 10th over, either it’s in the 50th over – the old ball – where you look after the ball, you shine the one side if it’s a dry day, a dry square, you one-bounce throw [in from the outfield], you get it scratched a bit, but the sandpaper scratch is totally different than the one-bounce scratch.

“As a cricket lover, if you want to check, grab a semi-new cricket ball, grab sandpaper, and rub it in – you know the scratches are totally different.

“Again, like I said, I’m not taking anybody’s side … Australians are known and famous for their straightforwardness, hardness on the field, off the field, and, most importantly, honesty.”

Khawaja, who has not spoken publicly since Cummins’ press conference, was due to appear on The Grade Cricketer podcast on Sunday, but that interview has been postponed until Thursday.

He was due to make an appearance at a book-signing event in Merrylands in western Sydney on Saturday, but publisher Penguin said it too had been postponed.

The former Test opener is scheduled to play in the T20 Gold Clash exhibition game in Cairns on November 22. He’s been named to play alongside the likes of Brian Lara, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey against a team featuring former AFL and NRL stars.

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