David Warner clarified his claims regarding Cricket Australia's (CA) 2018 Sandpapergate investigation on Sunday (November 15). After initially alleging that the board failed to interview key bowlers, the former opener stated he only shared his understanding of the events and was never informed that the bowlers had actually spoken to investigators.
On Saturday (November 14), Warner posted on Instagram accusing Cricket Australia of a "cover-up" and a "shoddy investigation". He claimed that, as far as he knew, CA did not interview bowlers Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and Nathan Lyon during the 2018 inquiry.
Hours later, CA released a statement, stating that all players were given the opportunity to speak during the original inquiry and have had years to bring forward new evidence.
“As we have stated previously, all players were given the opportunity to speak at the time of the initial investigation and have had the ability to come forward with new evidence in the eight years since,” a CA spokesperson said, as per the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Subsequently, CA has respected every player and former players’ right to provide their own version of events," the statement added.
Responding to the pushback on Instagram, Warner stood by his broader criticism of a "botched" inquiry. He clarified that he was never told the bowlers had been interviewed and questioned why CA withheld full evidence during the process.
“Just to clarify, ‘as far as I am aware’, was the POINT. I was never told the bowlers had been interviewed or provided statements. That information would have been pretty useful when I was forced to make decisions back in 2018,” Warner wrote on Instagram.
“Why weren't we given all the evidence by CA?” he added.
The 2018 controversy resurfaced after Usman Khawaja claimed in his newly-released autobiography, Sabr, that the knowledge of sandpaper plot extended beyond the three banned players (Warner, Steve Smith, and Cameron Bancroft) to the entire dressing room.
However, Australian Test captain Pat Cummins dismissed Khawaja’s claims as "complete and utter nonsense" during a press conference on Friday (November 13).
Prior to his Instagram post, Warner publicly supported Khawaja's account as "100 per cent accurate" and accused Cummins of throwing Khawaja "under the bus".
Notably, Warner and Smith had received 12-month bans from Cricket Australia, while Bancroft was suspended for nine months after being caught using sandpaper on the ball during the 2018 Newlands Test.
Warner, who was Test vice-captain at the time, was also handed an additional penalty of being banned from all leadership positions in international and Australian domestic cricket for life. That ban was lifted by Cricket Australia in October 2024, which enabled him to captain Sydney Thunder in the BBL.
