Mitchell Starc Stands Firm Against Khawaja's Sandpapergate Claims

Starc Responds to Khawaja's Book Claims

Sydney: Mitchell Starc has firmly rejected claims made by his former teammate Usman Khawaja regarding the infamous 2018 Sandpapergate incident, asserting that his memory of the events remains unchanged. Khawaja, in his upcoming book, suggests that the entire Australian squad was complicit in the ball-tampering scandal, despite only three players facing penalties.

Khawaja argues that Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft were unfairly singled out as scapegoats by cricket authorities, while the rest of the team was aware of the plan to use sandpaper during the Cape Town Test against South Africa.

Smith and Warner not only received one-year bans from playing but also faced leadership suspensions from Cricket Australia.

Starc, who was part of that team, emphasized that he would not comment on Khawaja's assertions, maintaining his stance of innocence from a statement made in 2021.

"I won’t speak on behalf of the bowlers, but my recollection hasn’t changed since our 2021 statement," Starc remarked, referencing a joint declaration he made with teammates Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon, which denied any prior knowledge of the ball-tampering scheme.

"That’s obviously in a book. That’s for someone to explain further. As far as our statement said in 2021, we weren’t aware of things being taken on the field. That’s what we will leave it for. I haven’t really paid much attention to be fair," he added.

Khawaja's claims have garnered support from Warner, who has labeled them as "100 percent accurate."

Nevertheless, Cricket Australia has dismissed the possibility of reopening the investigation, stating there is no compelling reason to revisit the scandal that tarnished the image of the sport's governing body in Australia.