Cameron Bancroft keen to move on after Khawaja sandpaper claims

Usman Khawaja’s forthcoming autobiography has returned the 2018 ball-tampering scandal to the headlines ahead of its publication. ESPNcricinfo reported that Khawaja details how Cameron Bancroft volunteered to use sandpaper on the ball in the Gqeberha Test prior to Cape Town.

Khawaja’s book, Sabr, includes claims that sandpaper was discussed and used during the second Test at Gqeberha. In extracts published by News Corp, Khawaja wrote that the ball would be collected near the boundary where the umpires left it at the start of a session.

He stated that David Warner said he could not do it because “they’re all over me,” and that Khawaja himself was never going to do it.

” Khawaja said he sat next to Bancroft during the third Test in Newlands and saw him speak to a coach before cameras caught the sandpaper vision on day three. Darren Lehmann told ABC Grandstand that he was not the coach in question.

Khawaja has been in touch with Bancroft and has sent him a copy of the chapter on the ball-tampering incident.

Reaction and sanctions

Western Australia coach Beau Casson said Cameron Bancroft was keen to “move on and let his bat do the talking” after Khawaja’s claims. Bancroft was banned from playing international and domestic cricket for nine months for his role in the incident.

ESPNcricinfo reported that only Bancroft, Steven Smith and David Warner were sanctioned following a swift Cricket Australia investigation. Khawaja’s autobiography Sabr will be published. Khawaja’s book will include claims that sandpaper was discussed and used during the second Test at Gqeberha.

Khawaja also stated that Bancroft then volunteered to use sandpaper in that Test. Khawaja wrote that because all teams were messing around with the ball, for Bancroft it was not even that big a deal.

” Khawaja has been in touch with Bancroft and has sent him a copy of the chapter on the ball-tampering incident.

What happens next

Khawaja’s autobiography Sabr is due for release. The book includes several claims centred on Bancroft, who was banned from international and domestic cricket for nine months for his role in the 2018 incident.

Only Bancroft, Steven Smith and David Warner were sanctioned following Cricket Australia’s swift investigation. Khawaja’s claims centre on the second Test at Gqeberha, and the third Test in Newlands, where cameras caught the sandpaper vision on day three.

Sources

• ESPNcricinfo

• Photo: Dave Morton, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)