Former Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja will be taking no further questions over his shocking new Sandpapergate claims, cancelling all his planned media commitments.
Tuesday saw the release of Khawaja’s autobiography Sabr, in which he made claims that the entire Australian team knew about the plot to bring sandpaper onto the field in the infamous 2018 Cape Town Test.
The revelations have once again rocked Australian cricket, with question marks arising over their investigation into the incident and putting the heat on current captain Pat Cummins and the bowling group, who released a statement in 2021 saying they did not know about it.
Appearing on ABC’s 7.30 program, Khawaja was asked about his comments and if he was “pissed off” over the bowlers’ stance.
“I’ll say again, I’ve given my statement about what happened the game before,” he replied.
“I was very open and honest to what I saw and what conversations I had.
“Sometimes I’m very specific on things, and sometimes I’m a bit vague on things, and I do it on purpose because I’m trying to tell a story.”
When pressed further on whether the bowlers knew, Khawaja shut down the line of questioning.
“I’m just not going … I’m not going to entertain that,” Khawaja said.
“I’m not going to really speak on any more of it at this moment.”
And it seems Khawaja does not want to risk being asked the questions again, cancelling all his mainstream media appearances across TV and radio, though it is still expected he will appear on podcasts.
It comes as Mitchell Starc doubled down on the 2021 statement and was unsure if he would ever speak to his former teammate again.
“We were heavily drilled through the process at the time, and since and 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 said on Tuesday.
“As far as the book is concerned, I haven’t read it, I probably won’t read it, so that’s for Usman to elaborate on.
“It’s definitely disappointing; that’s what we’re talking about heading into what’s already kicked off as a really exciting summer.”
“Trav (Travis Head) said it best the other day; the group has changed a lot. We look forward to what’s coming up more so than what’s gone.”
Khawaja denied accusations that he had thrown former teammates under the bus.
“This has never been a witch hunt for me,” he said.
“You’ve got to remember (that) Pat Cummins is a good friend of mine. Mitchell Starc, a lot of these guys (are and) other players in the team (are too).
“I’m not here to go on a witch hunt. All I’ve ever wanted is for us to take accountability as a team.”
