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Whether he intended to or not, Usman Khawaja’s recently published autobiography ‘Sabr’ is certainly causing a stir. It’s hard to believe that the former Australia opener didn’t know what was going to happen.
And it’s hard to believe that people are actually surprised by the revelations contained within its pages.
As much as the book addresses many issues and tells plenty of great stories, it is the Sandpapergate revelations that are generating the most comment and controversy.
In short, Khawaja implies that what happened in the wake of Cameron Bancroft being caught using sandpaper on the ball at Newlands in 2018 was a cover-up of giant proportions.
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Back in 2018, when Sandpapergate rocked the world, it was Bancroft, captain Steven Smith and deputy David Warner who took the fall for what happened.
Following what Warner has described as a hasty and rushed investigation, the trio took the blame and received suspensions and leadership bans. The rest of the team was exonerated. Khawaja says everyone knew.
Now, as much as he is the first person to admit to this, the reality is that we all knew. The fans, the media, the Australian Cricket Board and, yes, most definitely, the players who shared the field with the hapless Bancroft.
Also read: How South Africa beat Australia and what this means for their series against England
Think about it – you bowl, the batsman shoulders arms and the ball makes its way through to the wicketkeeper. By the time the ball makes its way back to the bowler, its condition has changed.
Bowlers work hard on the ball. They look at it before each delivery. They do things with it in terms of seam position and swing. How do you not notice that it has been returned to you at the top of your run-up in an altered state?
How do you not notice that you are generating unprecedented swing at an unusually early stage of proceedings? How does the wicketkeeper not notice?
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Khawaja is diplomatic in his book. He doesn’t name names. What he says has been endorsed wholeheartedly by Warner. Whether or not this was a matter that was formally discussed in a team meeting, it seems quite apparent that more than three or four players knew what was going on.
Why do people turn a blind eye? Largely because it is convenient. Whistle-blowing takes courage. It is easy to speak up against the weak. But to speak up against the world champions, to break away from the mighty Australian juggernaut and point a finger – that is hard.
Khawaja deserves a degree of credit for coming clean – although clearly, it is far too late.
But there needs to be consequences. The primary beneficiaries of Bancroft’s sacrifice are still playing today. The team that played at Newlands included Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon.
Also in the mix were Tim Paine, Shaun Marsh and Mitchell Marsh. These are big names in Australian cricket. But just because they are big names, this doesn’t mean that they should not be held accountable.
Would it be a shame for some of the greatest careers to be ended with suspension? Yes, it would be. But Smith and Warner faced the music and were suspended.
They came back, of course, because there was time. If Starc and Cummins are suspended now, they may not play Test cricket again. It would be a shame. But cheating took place. And not just cheating, a conspiracy took place.
Australia planned to cheat, they executed their plan and they covered it up as effectively as possible. Quite simply, that’s not okay.
If the investigation is only reopened in two years’ time, once all the protagonists have retired, what are the consequences?
They can’t be suspended. They probably can’t be fined. Nope, all that happens is that the ACB send a message to the next generation of players that it is okay to cheat – as long as you don’t get caught.
The ACB should use the momentum generated by the recent Test at Newlands and the admissions in Khawaja’s book to reopen the investigation and to act.
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The post What is Usman Khawaja really thinking with his Sandpapergate admissions? The damage is already done appeared first on Cricket365.
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