‘My recollection hasn’t changed’: Starc rejects tampering claim as Khawaja dodges request to name players

Résumé détaillé

Mitchell Starc said he was “sticking to what I said five years ago”, when he and the other bowlers released a statement denying knowledge of a sandpaper plot. Tonight Usman Khawaja was quizzed about whether specific players were involved in ball tampering conversations, but he refused to answer.

Mitchell Starc has disputed Usman Khawaja’s explosive claim that every member of the Australian team knew about the ball-tampering plot during the infamous 2018 Test series against South Africa, declaring he has no intention of reading his former teammate’s book and suggesting their future relationship is now in Khawaja’s hands.

Amid a series of disclosures in his autobiography, Sabr, which was released on Tuesday, Khawaja suggested the entire Australian team, including now captain Pat Cummins and other bowlers, knew about the plot to use sandpaper on the ball in the third Test in Cape Town eight years ago and that the tactic had also been deployed in the previous Test, in Gqeberha.

But pressed on the ABC’s 7:30 on Tuesday night about whether specific players, including Cummins, were involved in conversations about ball tampering, Khawaja refused to answer.

“And I say that for one reason – I wrote it [the details] in my book because it was a safe space for me to write.

“It took a long time to, first, write the chapter .... and go over it and work out a way that it was as balanced as possible.”

Asked specifically if Cummins had prior knowledge that sandpaper was being used to change the surface of the ball, Khawaja said: “I’m not going to answer that. I’ve written what I’ve written in my book.

“I’ve come out and stood by those three guys [the suspended players David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft] and told my account of what I saw.

“I’ve been very clear ... there are instances when I talk about ‘us’ and ‘them’, but I’ve been very clear in not naming names and staying out of it. I’m not going to start now.

“You’ve got to remember [that] Pat Cummins is a good friend of mine. Mitchell Starc, a lot of these guys [are and] other players in the team [are too].

Début de l'article, extrait de The Sydney Morning Herald. Pour lire la suite, ouvrez l'article chez le média.