Cricket Australia sees no need to reopen 2018 sandpaper inquiry

Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg said he did not see "any compelling reason" to reopen the investigation into the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in the third Test against South Africa, and seamer Mitchell Starc said he was disappointed by Usman Khawaja's claim that the whole team knew about the use of sandpaper.

Greenberg, who was appointed CEO of Cricket Australia in March 2025, said he had not yet read Khawaja's autobiography but hoped to and that he had "huge respect" for the former batter giving "his version of events". He told Australian outlet Sports Entertainment Network that "there are specific details in his book that contradict the versions that have been provided by others" and that he wanted "to be really careful to consider what Usman's actually said, and not respond to the headlines or the subsequent commentary that gets created." Greenberg added that "players were urged to come forward, and they had the opportunity to do so over these past eight years, and that remains the case."

The 2018 incident led to bans for Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, and a Cricket Australia inquiry concluded the national side's bowling attack were unaware of the ball-tampering. Starc, who formed part of that bowling attack alongside Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, noted that the four bowlers issued a joint statement in 2021 saying they "did not know a foreign substance was taken on to the field." At a season launch event in Sydney, Starc said he had "really paid much attention" to the media coverage of Khawaja's claims.

Starc reiterated his recall of events from 2021, saying: "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." He added, "We weren't aware it [sandpaper] was taken on the field to be tampered with. We saw it on the big screen in Cape Town." On Khawaja's book specifically, Starc said: "As far as the book's concerned, I haven't read it and probably won't read it, so that's for Usman to elaborate on."

Khawaja has also written that sandpaper was in use at the second Test at Port Elizabeth; Starc said that claim was the "first I was aware of any of that taking place in PE." Warner, who received a one-year ban after the episode, publicly backed Khawaja's recollections, saying they were "100% accurate." Greenberg acknowledged conflicting accounts, saying: "You end up at the same intersection where one person's version of events contradict the others, and I'm not sure what outcome people are searching for. I think what people want is a single outcome that everyone is aligned up on, but I don't think that's possible on this occasion because we have such conflicting views from the same moment in time."

Greenberg said Cricket Australia remained "comfortable with the outcome of the investigation based on the information we've received. That includes what we've seen from Usman, and our position hasn't changed on that." He concluded: "We don't see any compelling reason to open the investigation or revisit this again. I don't think there's anything that can be gained from that." Starc said the group had changed since 2018 and that "we certainly look forward to what's coming up," adding, "We're not in 2018 anymore, are we, so the group at the moment's great."