Usman Khawaja has claimed in his autobiography that Australia tampered with the ball in the Port Elizabeth Test against South Africa in 2018, a match before the Cape Town incident. He says the whole team knew, and that a session of reverse swing produced four wickets for 28 runs.
What Khawaja Has Alleged
The former Australia opener writes that Cameron Bancroft volunteered to tamper with the ball during the Port Elizabeth Test. According to Khawaja, Bancroft walked onto the field during the interval, picked up the ball the umpires had left behind, and worked on it.
The result, Khawaja says, was a ball with one shiny side and one rough, dry side. In his account, that contrast triggered reverse swing earlier than the conditions would normally allow.
Key claims at a glance| Detail | Claim by Khawaja |
|---|
| Venue | Port Elizabeth, Test against South Africa |
| Person who handled the ball | Cameron Bancroft, during the interval |
| Method | Sandpaper used to roughen one side |
| Post-break session result | 4 wickets for 28 runs |
| Team awareness | Whole squad knew |
The Numbers Behind the Collapse
The most measurable element of the claim is the session that followed the break. Khawaja says Australia took four wickets for 28 runs, which works out to an average of 7.00 runs per wicket.
For context, that is a very low figure for a Test session. A typical Test bowling average sits well above that mark, which is why the spell stands out as a statistical outlier.
Session scoring context| Metric | Value |
|---|
| Wickets taken | 4 |
| Runs conceded | 28 |
| Bowling average in the session | 7.00 |
Reverse Swing as the Key Variable
Khawaja writes that the ball was reversing around corners and that even he felt he could have reverse swung it from gully. He describes the bowlers as having bowled beautifully with it.
He also says one bowler told the huddle after a wicket not to do anything more to the ball, because it was already moving so much. Khawaja says the team was not planning to, and that the damage had been done straight after the break.
Link to the Cape Town Scandal
The Cape Town incident led Cricket Australia to ban Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft for months. Khawaja acknowledges that the team was caught in Cape Town, not Port Elizabeth.
His point is that being caught in one match does not mean it was the first time. He writes that nobody could say the team had not done it in the previous Test as well.
Sandpapergate: the two Tests in focus| Test | Status | Source of claim |
|---|
| Port Elizabeth | Not detected at the time, per Khawaja | Khawaja's autobiography |
| Cape Town | Detected; led to bans for Smith, Warner and Bancroft | Public record |
Why the Whole-Team Claim Matters
Khawaja's statement goes beyond the three banned players. He says the entire Australian squad was aware of the plan to use sandpaper.
That reading widens the scope of the original episode. It also raises questions about how far responsibility extended beyond the three players who were sanctioned.
Analytical Takeaways
The story rests on a single first-hand account in an autobiography. The statistical detail, four wickets for 28 runs in one session, gives the claim a measurable anchor, but it does not independently prove the cause.
Reverse swing can occur through natural wear, so the figures alone cannot confirm tampering. The weight of the allegation comes from Khawaja's own description of events and his claim that the team knew.
What to Watch Next
Further responses from those named, and from cricket's governing bodies, will determine how the claims are assessed. Until then, the allegations remain Khawaja's version of events, published ahead of his autobiography's release.
For now, the key figures are simple: one Test before Cape Town, one session, four wickets for 28 runs, and a claim that every player in the squad knew.