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Wednesday, November 11, 2026

Ex-Australia batting coach Hick says Khawaja Sandpapergate claims 'absolutely false' - AFP.com

Sports

Australia's former batting coach Graeme Hick called Usman Khawaja's Sandpapergate claims "absolutely false" as the fallout from the 2018 ball-tampering scandal rumbled on Thursday.

Khawaja re-ignited the explosive issue by alleging in his autobiography this week that the whole team knew about the plot to rough up the ball to make it swing during the third Test against South Africa at Cape Town eight years ago.

He also claimed the tactic was used in the second Test at Port Elizabeth.

A Cricket Australia probe concluded only David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft were in the know, with all three sent home in disgrace and subsequently banned.

Warner has backed Khawaja's stance, but Darren Lehmann, who was head coach at the time, denied last weekend any knowledge.

England's Hick, who was Australia's batting coach during the South Africa tour, told the Sydney Morning Herald that the now-retired Khawaja was wrong.

"Khawaja puts it simply: 'It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us.' To me what Khawaja is implying here is absolutely false," he said.

"In regard to any discussions around the ball-tampering in Port Elizabeth or Cape Town that took place, I will say in true honesty that I did not hear or know anything."

Pat Cummins and fellow bowlers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon all denied publicly in 2021 that they knew about the plan.

Starc reiterated this on Wednesday, telling reporters: "I guess I won't speak...



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