Australia DID tamper with the ball during 2017-18 Ashes 'Sandpapergate' scandal - and the whole team knew, admits former player Usman Khawaja

Australia did tamper with the ball during the 2017‑18 Ashes - and the whole team knew about it, former player Usman Khawaja has admitted.

The series, which England lost 4‑0, was marred by the 'Sandpapergate' scandal after Cameron Bancroft was caught using sandpaper to rough up a ball to make it swing in flight.

Aussie captain Steve Smith vice-captain David Warner were banned for a year, with batsman Bancroft sidelined for nine months - but now Khawaja says the entire squad knew about the machinations during the third Test in Perth.

At the time, bowlers denied that they had knowledge of the plan.

He writes in his autobiography Sabr: 'We won the game comprehensively by an innings … Starcy [Mitchell Starc] bowled that unforgettable ball to James Vince off the crack.

'We were reverse-swinging it late on day five. Actually, we were reverse-swinging the ball the game before too - except it was much tougher, because it was the pink ball.

'But we - and I say ‘we’, because we were a team, whether you did the deed or not - had worked out that, if we raised the flaps up on the quarter seam on that ball, it was almost like it had a rudder on it and it’d start reverse-swinging.

'And before you start going at me, calm down. The whole world was doing whatever little they could to try to reverse-swing the ball.'

He added: 'During this time, every team was reverse-swinging the ball. These were the old Kookaburras, which had a single lacquer on them. So they softened up and got older a lot quicker, which meant you could rough them up on the rough side much more easily — and hence get them to reverse. It was just the norm. Everyone was trying to do something.

'Hell, in 2005 the English team were putting lollies on the ball the whole time, and [Andrew] Flintoff and [Simon] Jones had it reversing like I’ve never seen before.'

Waner has since admitted that Khawaja is '100% accurate' in his recollection of the incident.

'It's been eight years since I spoke on this topic. And Ussie, I throw my full support behind you,' Warner said.

'I thank you for what you've done. It's 100% accurate what you've said. Now everyone knows the truth.

'We’re not here to point fingers, and we’re not opening old wounds. It’s about accountability, transparency, ensuring that the truth is properly examined.

'This whole interview process was rushed and botched, but Uzzie was sitting next to Cameron Bancroft [in the dressing room, where he says he witnessed a conversation with a coach that sparked off using sandpaper again]. Uzzie was not interviewed, how is that a thorough investigation? It baffles me.

'There were a lot of statements and inaccuracies over the last eight years that were out in the media, by people, and there were a lot of people who stayed silent.'

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has demanded that the investigation into 'Sandpapergate' be re-opened in the wake of Khawaja's publication.

'They [fans] don’t know the truth until this gets reopened and the truth comes out,' he told Aussie radio station 2DayFM.

'We had the chance in 2018. The truth didn’t come out. Now we’ve got this opportunity. I would just like to see, whatever the truth is, for it all to come out.'

But the chief executive of Cricket Australia, Todd Greenberg, does not wish to revisit the events.

'There are specific details in his book that contradict the versions that have been provided by others,' Greenberg told the Sports Entertainment Network.

'I want to be really careful to consider what Usman’s actually said, and not respond to the headlines or the subsequent commentary that gets created.

'We have said we’re 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. 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.'

Bowler Mitchell Starc, who still plays today, continues to deny knowledge of any tampering.

'Obviously, there’s differing opinions of eight years ago,' he said.

'We were heavily grilled through the process at the time, since. 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. We weren’t aware it [sandpaper] was taken on the field to be tampered with.'

More to follow.