Warner: Cricket Australia accused of "cover-up"

The Cliff News | 14 November 2026

David Warner, the former Australian vice-captain, has directly accused Cricket Australia (CA) of orchestrating a "cover-up" in relation to the 2018 ball-tampering scandal that significantly impacted the sport. His allegations follow recent claims made in the autobiography of batter Usman Khawaja.

Khawaja's book controversially stated that the entire Australian team was aware of the sandpaper being used to tamper with the ball during a Test series in South Africa in 2018. This has reignited debate surrounding the integrity of CA's initial investigation.

Questioning the Investigation

Warner has specifically challenged the thoroughness of CA's probe by highlighting the alleged absence of interviews with key bowlers at the time. "As far as I am aware, CA did not interview Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc or Nathan Lyon in their 2018 investigation," Warner stated.

He further questioned the official narrative, asking: "If that's correct, then how can CA push the idea that the bowlers didn't know?" Warner suggested this points to a predetermined outcome, with a "shoddy investigation" designed to support a specific narrative.

Accusations of Bias

The former vice-captain believes the investigation was flawed from its inception. "It looks like they had decided who they wanted to blame from the very beginning, ran a shoddy investigation to serve the purpose and now they want to maintain the false narrative that the bowlers had no idea," Warner commented, concluding that "That stinks of a cover-up."

Historically, the four frontline bowlers—Hazlewood, Starc, Lyon, and Pat Cummins—have consistently maintained their ignorance of any ball-tampering plan involving sandpaper. Cummins, who is now Australia's Test captain, affirmed during an extraordinary news conference on Friday that he was indeed interviewed as part of the investigation.

Cricket Australia's Response

In response to Warner's recent accusations, Cricket Australia issued a statement. "As we have stated previously, all players were given the opportunity to speak at the time of the initial investigation and have had the ability to come forward with new evidence in the eight years since," a CA spokesperson said.

The governing body added, "Subsequently, CA has respected every player and former players' right to provide their own version of events." This indicates CA's stance that all avenues were open for players to participate in the investigation and share their perspectives.