New Delhi, November 7, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Former Australia head coach Darren Lehmann has disputed Usman Khawaja’s claim that the entire Australian team knew about the ball-tampering plan during the 2018 Cape Town Test, insisting that awareness of ball tampering in cricket did not mean everyone knew about the specific use of sandpaper.
The controversy has resurfaced following Khawaja’s interview with Nine newspapers, in which he alleged that the plan to alter the ball’s condition was known across the Australian dressing room.
Speaking to ABC Sport’s Summer Grandstand ahead of the release of his book Sabr, Lehmann said he did not believe every player and member of the support staff was aware of the sandpaper plan.
“I don’t think everyone would have known (about the use of sandpaper). You do know ball tampering is going on because it’s been happening for 150 years. It’s just how it’s being done,” he said.
Lehmann, who was Australia’s head coach during the Cape Town Test, added that he could speak only about what he personally knew. Acknowledging that ball tampering had been a longstanding issue in cricket, he said the practice did not become acceptable simply because it had existed for years.
“That doesn’t make it right either, but that’s the case, and we paid a heavy price for that,” he said.
The March 2018 incident became one of the biggest controversies in Australian cricket after Cameron Bancroft was caught using sandpaper to roughen the ball. The subsequent investigation led to suspensions for Bancroft, then captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner. Lehmann later stepped down as head coach.
Khawaja has also claimed that he proposed the team take collective responsibility after Bancroft was exposed. Lehmann said he could not confirm whether such a discussion had taken place, recalling that players were in separate dressing rooms while he was attending meetings with Cricket Australia.
He also distanced himself from an alleged conversation between Bancroft and a member of the coaching staff about the origins of the plan, saying he had no knowledge of it.
Cricket Australia, meanwhile, said it remained confident in the findings of its original integrity investigation and was open to considering any additional relevant information.
Lehmann described the scandal as a deeply difficult period in his life, revealing that he had spent four months largely confined to his home after the episode. He said the renewed allegations had brought back painful memories for those involved and added that Khawaja had neither called nor messaged him before making the claims public.
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