‘Everyone knew’: Chadd Sayers rejects Pat Cummins’ view on sandpapergate
Former Australian bowler Chadd Sayers says he is confident "everyone" in the Australian Test side knew of the sandpaper ball-tampering plan, backing Usman Khawaja's version of events in South Africa.
Sayers, a member of the touring party for the 2018 series, also rejected Pat Cummins' claim that there was no team meeting to discuss collective responsibility and criticized the Australian captain for getting "personal" with Khawaja in his press conference on the scandal.
Warner's fresh accusations
The scandal has resurfaced following Khawaja's autobiography, in which he alleges the entire Australian team had knowledge of the sandpaper plot and had previously used ball-tampering tactics. Cummins had previously hit back at Khawaja, describing the claims as "complete nonsense."
On Sunday, David Warner fired another barb at Cricket Australia, doubling down a day after accusing the governing body of a cover-up. Warner claimed he wasn't given all the evidence before taking the brunt of the punishment for the use of sandpaper in the Cape Town Test.
I was never told the bowlers had been interviewed or provided statements. That information would've been pretty useful when I was forced to make decisions back in 2018. Why weren't we given all the evidence by CA?
Team meeting confirmed
Sayers, whose one and only Test match for Australia was played during that South Africa tour, said he did recall a conversation about collective responsibility taking place after the match in Cape Town. He described it as a "relief now that it's out there in the open."
"We all sat in the change rooms after that day's play, probably for 60 to 90 minutes, and just talked about what had happened and where to next," Sayers said. "It was always going to happen with the seriousness of what the allegations were."
In the end, three players – David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft – were punished for the incident after an investigation by Cricket Australia. The scandal continues to cast a shadow over Australian cricket with fresh revelations emerging years after the initial incident.
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