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Mitchell Starc responds to Usman Khawaja's Sandpapergate claims

Starc stands by his 2021 statement and says he has not paid much attention to Khawaja's new account.

By , Sports writer

· 2 min read

Mitchell Starc
Mitchell Starc (file photo) Photo: SirWellsy99 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Mitchell Starc has rejected Usman Khawaja's Sandpapergate claims and said his opinion has not changed since 2021. Cricket Australia has ruled out reopening the investigation into the 2018 ball-tampering scandal.

Key takeaways

  • Mitchell Starc says he has not paid much attention to Usman Khawaja's claims.
  • Starc maintains the Australian team was unaware of the ball-tampering plan.
  • Khawaja claimed every player in the Test setup knew about the plan.
  • Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg said accounts had been inconsistent.
  • Cricket Australia has ruled out reopening the investigation.

Australian pace bowler Mitchell Starc has responded to former batter Usman Khawaja's claims about the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, saying he "has not paid much attention to it", NDTV Sports reported. Starc, who played in Australia's Playing XI in the Cape Town Test against South Africa eight years ago, said his position remains unchanged from 2021. The scandal returned to the spotlight after Khawaja released his autobiography, 'Sabr'.

Starc stands by 2021 statement

Mitchell Starc has stuck to the account he gave in 2021 about the sandpaper-gate incident. The pacer maintained that the entire Australian team was unaware of the plan, a position that contradicts claims made by Usman Khawaja in his autobiography, 'Sabr'.

In 2021, Australia's bowling quartet -- Pat Cummins, Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon -- had released a joint statement denying prior knowledge of or involvement in the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Starc clarified that he was not speaking on behalf of the other bowlers, while reiterating that his position remained unchanged.

He also said he was unaware that sandpaper had been used on the ball during the Port Elizabeth Test, adding that this was the first time he had heard of it.

"Yeah, that's the first I was aware of any of that taking place in PE (second Test) was when (Khawaja said it) ... I'll leave that for said authors to explain," Starc said.

"I haven't really paid much attention to be fair, obviously there's differing opinions of eight years ago.

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. "

Khawaja's claims and support

Khawaja claimed that every player in the Test setup knew about the plan. David Warner and Chadd Sayers, who were part of Australia's Cape Town dressing room, backed his account, with Warner describing it as "100% accurate".

Cricket Australia response

Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg said accounts of the incident had been inconsistent, following conversations with some other members of the Australian team over the weekend. CA has consequently ruled out reopening the investigation. Starc said he would not speak on behalf of the bowlers and would leave explanations to the authors.

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