Mitchell Starc denies Sandpapergate knowledge as Cricket Australia refuses new investigation

Mitchell Starc has firmly denied having prior knowledge of Australia's ball-tampering scheme during the 2018 tour of South Africa, following fresh allegations from former team-mate Usman Khawaja.

Khawaja's new autobiography, Sabr, claims that the entire Australian dressing room knew about the plan to alter the condition of the ball. He also alleges that the practice began during the second Test in Port Elizabeth, before Cameron Bancroft was caught using sandpaper during the following match in Cape Town.

Starc, who was part of Australia's bowling attack at the time, insists his recollection has not changed since the investigation. He also referred to a joint statement released in 2021 by himself, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, in which the bowlers denied knowing that a foreign substance had been taken onto the field.

"We weren't aware of anything taken on the field to be tampered with. We saw it on the big screen in Cape Town," Starc told reporters. He added that Khawaja's claim about the earlier Test in Port Elizabeth was the first time he had heard of ball-tampering taking place there.

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg has ruled out reopening the investigation. He said the governing body remains satisfied with the original findings and sees no compelling reason to revisit the case, despite Khawaja's allegations and David Warner's public support for his former team-mate.

The original investigation resulted in 12-month suspensions for Steve Smith and Warner, while Bancroft received a nine-month ban. Cricket Australia concluded at the time that the three players were the only ones with prior knowledge of the plan.

The renewed controversy has once again divided former and current Australian players, with different accounts emerging about how widely the ball-tampering scheme was known within the team.