Khawaja refuses to name which Australia players knew of 2018 ball tampering
Usman Khawaja refused to name which national team players knew of ball tampering during an interview with broadcaster ABC, comments reported on 11 November 2026. The publisher of Khawaja's autobiography said the book tour had not been cancelled, adding: "The book tour is 100% still going ahead, we've just had to make some adjustments this week, but no major cancellation of the tour at all," said Khawaja's publisher Penguin in a statement to ABC.
Khawaja retired from international cricket in early 2025. Reports in the Australian media said the former Australia batter had pulled out of several engagements following the ABC interview. He told ABC he wanted former team-mates to take collective responsibility and did not want to be responsible for a "witch hunt" regarding specific players. Khawaja told ABC that he was simply "sharing my version of the truth" and "not calling for anything".
The fallout from the 2018 series with South Africa led to bans for captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and fellow batter Cameron Bancroft. A Cricket Australia investigation, the article reports, found the national side's bowling attack were unaware of the ball-tampering. Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc were described as remaining fixtures in the national side, and the quartet issued a joint statement in 2021 saying they "did not know a foreign substance was taken on to the field".
Khawaja said he had originally included names in his edit but subsequently removed them: "It's never been for me about pointing fingers and saying, 'he did this, he said that'. That's why even when I first wrote my edit there were names, there were lots of things, and I pulled it back." He added: "Sometimes I'm very specific on things and sometimes they're a bit vague on things, and I do it on purpose because I'm trying to tell a story." He also said: "My main objective here is always to try and take accountability as a team, to say, yes, this was happening. And even though one person did it or the captain knew about it and Davey Warner always took the heat for it, that it wasn't just them, that we were all involved in it as a team."
Former team-mate Warner has said the claims in Khawaja's book are "100% accurate" and that "lies will eventually get out". Asked about Warner's comments, Khawaja said: "I'm not going to speak on behalf of Davey. I've tried my best to tell my story in an open and safe environment." He added: "Twenty-two pages is what sandpaper is and I've tried my best in that to explain my version of events." Khawaja also said: "I'm not here to inflame the situation any more. I was here to tell my truth, what I saw, what I felt and to stick with those three guys that were made out to be the only people who have taken it, and I wanted that to be shown."
Pressed on whether Pat Cummins knew of the ball-tampering, Khawaja said: "I'm not going to answer that." He reiterated: "This has never been a witch hunt for me. It's only been those three guys who've had to cop this flak for a long time," and added: "I'm hoping other people will come up and talk about it honestly. That's what I'm hoping, but I'm not forcing anyone to do anything." He listed several current and former team-mates as friends, saying: "You've got to remember Pat Cummins is a good friend of mine, Mitchell Starc, a lot of these guys, Shaun Marsh, Mitch Marsh, they're all very good friends of mine. All I've ever wanted is for us to take accountability as a team. I don't think that's a lot to say."
England batter Joe Root, asked about the scandal in the build-up to his side's first one-day international against Australia on Friday, said: "I don't want to speculate." He added: "I can only speak from my own experiences. That's not how I feel, no."
