Australia doomed to live with stench of sandpapergate

There are stories that can damage reputations, tarnish legacies and put asterisks next to achievements.

Never-ending sagas, claim and counterclaim, one word against another.

Are Pep Guardiola's trophies at Manchester City rendered worthless by financial rule breaches? Would either of the Houston Astros or Boston Red Sox have won the World Series without sign stealing? How much fake blood was spilled by Harlequins?

Now, sandpapergate has morphed into Usman Khawaja's-book-gate, opening old wounds and asking questions that have hung over Australian cricket since Cameron Bancroft hid some DIY equipment in his jockstrap in 2018.

Published on Tuesday, Khawaja's autobiography – Sabr – is only suggesting what plenty have suspected for the past eight years.

It always seemed likely that Bancroft, Steve Smith and David Warner were not the only three members of the Australia camp with knowledge of the sandpaper plot.

Careful with his words, perhaps for legal reasons, Khawaja has said enough to reignite a row that once consumed the entire nation of Australia. Crucially, the former batter has not named individuals and, in the opinion of Cricket Australia (CA), not presented enough evidence to merit a new investigation.

It was Nathan Lyon who once said Australia know how to "headbutt the line, but we won't go over it". Khawaja has headbutted the line of whistle-blowing, without taking a full toot.

There are some key quotes from Khawaja, taken from the autobiography and his public statements of the past few days.

Writing in Sabr, Khawaja says: "I'm going to use the term 'we' throughout this chapter, because 'we' are team Australia – although in this book I'm not speaking on behalf of anyone but myself. This will be my recollection of events."

In a video posted on Instagram, he added: "You would have seen when I mentioned it was all of us, that's implying that whether we like it or not, we are all responsible for what happened together. As a team, we need to take that collectively. That is all."

Then, to ABC on Tuesday: "I'm not here to go on a witch hunt. All I've ever wanted is for us to take accountability as a team."

Rather than directly accusing his team-mates, Khawaja is asking the Australians present in Cape Town to share the blame that was given to Smith, Warner and Bancroft. An individual can be culpable for what happened, even if they were not the one to directly rub sandpaper on the red leather.

Khawaja has also explained that much of his motivation for telling this story comes from loyalty to his childhood friend Warner.

Warner has had his say and, like Khawaja, has not named anyone else he feels should be implicated.

There are questions as to why neither man has spoken up over the past eight years. If they felt strongly, they could have come forward at any time, even if Khawaja is proved correct in his claim he was not interviewed in the original investigation.

Then again, there was the issue of squad harmony, loyalty to their friends and protecting their places in the Australia team. Warner may yet reveal more in the future, ditto for Smith and Bancroft.

This latest evidence has done little to shift views that were entrenched before Khawaja put pen to paper. Darren Lehmann, Australia coach at the time, has stuck to his story of denial, as has Mitchell Starc. Chadd Sayers, another seamer in the 2018 squad, has come out in support of Khawaja and Warner.

So far, so much stalemate.

It leaves the ball in the court of the other Australian players involved, the coaching staff and CA.

On Tuesday, CA chief executive Todd Greenberg said, with a straight face, he did not see "any compelling reason" to reopen the investigation into the ball-tampering saga.

What evidence could compel Greenberg to act? Even if Khawaja has not directly pointed the finger at anyone else in the dressing room that day, surely CA should be curious about the claims that are currently causing so much reputational damage, especially when Khawaja and Warner have called into question the rigour of the original investigation.

The Cape Town files have never been made public. In 2021, David Saker, an Australia assistant coach in 2018, called for them to be released. Now, Saker is not named but is among the staff Khawaja has implicated in the book by claiming a member of the backroom team encouraged Bancroft. That allegation alone surely merits further scrutiny by CA.

Of the players in the Australia XI on that Saturday at Newlands, three were punished; now Khawaja has accepted his share of responsibility, making four.

Tim Paine inherited the captaincy, a reign that ended in his own scandal. Mitchell Marsh remains an active player and is about to skipper Australia in the limited-overs series against England. Marsh will speak on Thursday. His brother Shaun was also in the team in Cape Town. That makes seven.

Then there are the four bowlers, possibly the greatest four-man attack ever assembled.

Starc, with more Test wickets than any other left-arm bowler in history. Lyon, the most successful orthodox finger-spinner in Test cricket. Josh Hazlewood, the reincarnation of Glenn McGrath. Pat Cummins, the clean-cut current Australia captain, an Ashes and World Cup-winning leader.

That they are still Australia's first-choice bowling unit is testament to their talent, longevity and desire. They remain as a quartet, hunting prizes that have previously eluded them over the coming year – an away Test series win in India, winning the Ashes in England.

As it stands, they are adhering to a joint-statement made in 2021 that they "did not know a foreign substance was taken on to the field".

The plausibility of elite bowlers not knowing a ball has been tampered with is up for debate. The quartet point to the fact the on-field umpires on the day did not see any reason to change the ball at the time. In contrast, Khawaja said the effects of sandpaper could leave swirls on the leather.

For Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon, champion bowlers, the insinuation hangs over them. It is hard to prove a negative. Perhaps the off-ramp is for the foursome to themselves call for a reopening of the investigation? It could clear their names.

As it stands, Australian cricket is stuck in a sandpaper limbo, a halfway house full of historical scandal, innuendo and unanswered questions. According to former captain Michael Clarke, further inaction would leave supporters unable to "trust what's real".

Perhaps there is another scenario, the unpalatable prospect of those at the top having no desire to open the door for fear of what might lie behind it. It is worth remembering that the past two Australia captains have lost the job in disgrace: Smith for sandpaper, Paine for sexting.

Is that worse than the status quo? Sandpaper is the stench Australian cricket cannot shake.