Usman Khawaja labels Victoria as best domestic team at ball tampering, Darren Lehmann responds to allegations everyone knew about use of sandpaper in Cape Town, release of autobiography Sabr, latest news

Australian Test great Usman Khawaja has labelled Victoria as “the best” state side to ball tamper during his time playing domestic cricket, ahead of the release of his much-anticipated autobiography Sabr on Tuesday.

Khawaja’s revelation comes in the wake of his detailing on Australia’s infamous 2018 ball-tampering episode in Cape Town against South Africa, which saw Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft all handed lengthy suspensions.

During the third Test in Cape Town against the Proteas eight years ago, Bancroft was captured on camera using yellow sandpaper to scuff the ball and gain reverse swing.

Watch every ball of Australia vs England T20 & ODI series Live & ad-break free during play on Fox Cricket, available on Kayo Sports | Don’t miss the Summer of the Century. Get 50% off Kayo Premium for 4 months. Min cost $23 for 1 month. New & returning customers only. Offer ends 30 Nov 2026. Sign up today

While there is a long history of international players altering the condition of a ball in-game, Khawaja’s book reveals that it was a cunning move rooted far too deep in Australia’s domestic circles.

“I remember my debut year … one of the players had super glue on his towel,’’ Khawaja wrote.

“He’d get the ball on the rough side and scrub it against the dried-up super glue. It worked a treat and the ball would always reverse.

“The Victorians were probably the best at it. The MCG used to be dead and flat. Reverse swing and a bit of spin was the only way you could win a game there.

“I personally never tampered with a ball — in terms of scratching it or anything — but I knew everything that was going on and I wasn’t against it which made me complicit.

“The Victorians of that 2000s and 2010s era were genius at it. Throwing it into the wicket and doing other dark arts to rough it up and make the shiny side relatively shinier. It was all fair game.

“It was no surprise when, years later, Victoria’s bowling coach, Micky Lewis, was caught on cameras scraping the ball in the gutter when it got hit for a boundary. This kind of stuff was very normal. There were plenty of times we hoped a spinner got hit for a six so someone could fetch the ball and scrub it while no one was watching and we could reverse swing it.

“To be honest, everyone knew what was going on in those teams I played in growing up. So whether you did it personally or not we were all complicit. The world game was the same. Reverse swing on those older, flatter Test wickets was how you won the matches, come day four and five.’’

In the wake of Cape Town 2018, Darren Lehmann stood down from his role as the side’s head coach after nearly five years in the hot seat.

Since excerpts of Khawaja’s autobiography have been made public ahead of his release, the SACA legend has denied claims that “everyone” knew about the planned use of sandpaper in that infamous Test.

“I don’t think everyone would have known (about the use of sandpaper). You do know ball tampering is going on, because it’s been happening for 150 years,” Lehmann said on ABC Sport.

“It’s just how it’s being done, and how you would know to that extent? That’s an individual case by case, to be fair.

“I can only speak to what I know, and I know ball tampering was a big part of the game of cricket. Now it is obsolete.

“That doesn’t make it right either, but that’s the case, and we paid a heavy price for that.”

At the time, Cricket Australia was believed to be implementing a succession plan for Lehmann, which eventually saw former Test opener Justin Langer accept the role.

Lehmann had planned to finish his tenure after the 2019 ODI World Cup and Ashes campaigns in England.

“At the end of the day, Cricket Australia had their findings. It was a really tough week, two weeks, at that time going through the process and talking to all the relevant parties,” Lehmann added.

“I was in a really dark place for a period of time where for four months I didn’t leave my house.

“Eight years after the fact and trying to sell a book is a bit different. That’s Usman’s choice and that’s the way he wants to go.

“For the families and the people involved, I feel for them right now because it’s taking them back to a really bad place. It’s been eight years. You get to a place where you move on, and I’ve moved on with my life.”