Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive Todd Greenberg on Tuesday (November 10) ruled out reopening the investigation into the 2018 "Sandpapergate" ball-tampering row.
The controversy resurfaced following revelations in Usman Khawaja's autobiography, Sabr, in which he rejected the long-held assertion that only Steven Smith, Warner, and Cameron Bancroft were involved in the scandal.
Khawaja claimed that the entire touring party was aware of the ball-tampering plot and that the Australian team had successfully used sandpaper on the ball a game prior to the infamous Cape Town Test.
Warner backed Khawaja’s version of events in a social media post and called the original 2018 Cricket Australia integrity investigation a "rushed and botched" process.
However, Greenberg stated that the board remains "comfortable with the outcome" of its original probe and sees no "compelling reason" to revisit the matter.
"There's absolutely no benefit in going back. That's the clear position of the CA board. It's time we've got to look ahead, and the matter was dealt with under a previous leadership back in 2018. And you know, trying to second-guess decisions from a previous time, or making an assessment through the prism of hindsight, it's not something we want to do," Greenberg told SEN radio.
"We have said we're comfortable with the outcome of the investigation based on the information we've received, that includes what we've seen from Usman and our position hasn't changed on that. I don't see any compelling reason to open the investigation or revisit this again. I don't think there's anything that can be gained from that," he added.
Greenberg revealed he spoke with several members of the 2018 South Africa touring squad over the weekend and noted their accounts differed from Khawaja's explosive revelations.
"I can assure you, there are lots of other players who have a very different version of events, and they've made that very public from the very start in 2018," Greenberg said.
"They've been very consistent in their position right through until today, and based on my conversations with many of them over the weekend, I don't think that will change either. We end up at the same intersection point, which is eight years ago; people have versions of events which differ from each other. And I completely get it. No one would like to get this chapter of Australian cricket closed more than me, but it is unlikely."
Greenberg also confirmed that current players Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Mitchell Marsh will address the media regarding the matter in the coming days.
