Usman Khawaja’s Sabr Challenges Sandpapergate Account: What the Memoir Says, November 7, 2026

Verified: November 7, 2026, at 12:09 p.m. Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT, UTC+11:00); 1:09 a.m. UTC.

Usman Khawaja’s memoir Sabr challenges the official account of Australian cricket’s 2018 sandpapergate scandal. In published excerpts, the former Test batter says sandpaper was used to alter the ball in the Test before the infamous Cape Town match. He also says knowledge of the conduct extended across the team and staff.

The claims reopen a central question about responsibility for an incident that led to playing bans for Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. Cricket Australia’s 2018 investigation concluded that prior knowledge of the Cape Town plan was confined to those three players. Khawaja’s account is an allegation from someone who was there; it does not, by itself, establish that the original findings were wrong.

Destaques

• Khawaja says sandpaper was discussed and used during the second Test at Port Elizabeth, now called Gqeberha, before the Cape Town incident.
• He says responsibility extended beyond the three players punished in 2018.
• Cricket Australia’s investigation identified Warner as the instigator, Bancroft as the player who carried out the plan and Smith as aware of it.
• Four Australian bowlers have previously denied prior knowledge of a foreign object being taken onto the field.

What does Sabr say about sandpapergate?

According to excerpts and an interview published by Nine, Khawaja describes discussions in the dressing room about ways to rough up the ball during the second Test against South Africa. His account places the discovery and use of sandpaper at that earlier match, before television cameras exposed the Cape Town incident in the third Test.

Khawaja says Bancroft volunteered to use sandpaper during the earlier match and that players discussed the ball’s movement afterward. He also argues that the team should have accepted collective responsibility when the scandal broke. Nine’s report on Khawaja’s account attributes the wider claim about players and staff to Khawaja himself.

That distinction matters: a person’s account of a group’s knowledge is not the same as independent proof of what every individual knew or when they knew it. The claims about the earlier Test also go beyond the specific conduct examined in the publicly described Cape Town findings.

What happened in Cape Town in 2018?

On March 24, 2018, during the third Test at Newlands, cameras captured Bancroft attempting to alter the condition of the ball with sandpaper. Players may polish a cricket ball within the rules, but using an outside object to damage its surface is prohibited. Altering one side can affect how the ball moves through the air, potentially making it harder for a batter to play.

The controversy grew after the match-day explanation. Smith and Bancroft initially described using adhesive tape and debris, but Cricket Australia’s investigation established that the object was sandpaper. The governing body found that Warner had devised the plan and enlisted Bancroft, while Smith knew about it and failed to prevent it. Its summary of the investigation also said the three had misled officials and the public.

A separate 2024 review panel decision concerning Warner’s leadership sanction reproduced the account that Warner instructed Bancroft and demonstrated how to use sandpaper. That document addresses Warner’s sanction; it does not independently resolve Khawaja’s broader claims about the rest of the touring party.

Who was punished, and what have the bowlers said?

Cricket Australia suspended Smith and Warner from international and Australian domestic cricket for 12 months each. Bancroft received a nine-month suspension. The penalties reflected their respective roles and the misleading response after the incident, as described in the investigation findings. The three later returned to international cricket.

Australia’s four bowlers in the Cape Town Test—Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon—publicly denied in 2021 that they had prior knowledge of a foreign substance being taken onto the field. That denial should be read alongside Khawaja’s account, rather than treated as settled by it. The question of general discussion about the ball is also distinct from precisely who knew a piece of sandpaper would be used during a particular session.

Why does Khawaja’s account matter now?

The memoir gives readers the perspective of a player who was part of the team, and it challenges both the scope and timing of the established public narrative. If further evidence supports his account of an earlier incident or wider knowledge, it could change how the episode and its penalties are understood. Those possibilities remain conditional; the published claims alone do not establish a new official finding or a new disciplinary outcome.

The dispute also illustrates why cricket’s distinction between legitimate ball maintenance and artificial alteration matters. Teams routinely work to keep one side of a ball shiny. Deliberately damaging it with sandpaper crosses a rule boundary, regardless of whether the ball then swings noticeably.

For readers interested in the wider book, publisher Penguin describes Sabr: Finding My Way in Cricket and Life as Khawaja’s account of his cricket career and life. The publisher explains the title as an Arabic word for patience. The sandpapergate passages are one part of that broader memoir.

FAQ

Did Usman Khawaja say the whole team knew?

Yes. In his reported account, Khawaja says knowledge extended across the players and staff. That claim conflicts with Cricket Australia’s 2018 findings and with the bowlers’ earlier public denial.

Was sandpaper used before the Cape Town Test?

Khawaja says it was used in the preceding Test at Port Elizabeth. This is his account, as reported from the memoir; the 2018 investigation described the Cape Town incident as isolated.

How long were the sandpapergate bans?

Smith and Warner each received 12-month playing suspensions from Cricket Australia, while Bancroft received a nine-month suspension.