Another member of Australia’s infamous 2018 South Africa tour has rejected Pat Cummins’ account of the sandpaper scandal, adding further fuel to the controversy.
The latest challenge came from Chadd Sayers, as David Warner launched another fierce criticism of Cricket Australia (CA) in a social media post.
Sayers, who was part of Australia’s Test touring squad in South Africa, said the players were aware that sandpaper was being used to alter the ball.
His account directly conflicts with Cummins’ denial and aligns with the recollections previously shared by Usman Khawaja.
“I believe that everyone in that side knew what was going on and what was being used,” Sayers told SEN radio on Sunday.
Sayers also claimed sandpaper had been used during the second Test in Port Elizabeth, before the infamous third match in Cape Town, where television cameras captured Cameron Bancroft attempting to scuff the ball.
“In Port Elizabeth … it was used in two Test matches,” Sayers said.
“There were discussions in the changerooms about how we were going to get the ball to reverse and what was going to be used.”
Chadd Sayers (pictured), a member of Australia’s Test touring party in South Africa in 2018, said the players knew sandpaper was being used on the ball
His account contradicts Australian Test captain Pat Cummins’ (pictured) denial and supports Usman Khawaja’s version of events
“I just know there were numerous conversations about it in the changerooms.”
Sayers, who did not play in either the Port Elizabeth or Cape Town Tests, said he collected the sandpaper from the field after it had been used on the ball in Port Elizabeth.
“I just knew it was going to be used, as I believe everyone else did,” said the former South Australian quick, who made his only Test appearance in the fourth and final match of the series.
“The plan was for Cameron Bancroft to take it out, for the umpires to drop the ball on the ground, and for him to carry on with business.
“It was given to me to take off, so that wasn’t planned or anything. I was simply the player taking the drinks out at the time.”
Sayers also supported Khawaja’s claim that the touring party discussed taking collective responsibility after Bancroft was caught on television with sandpaper tucked inside his trousers during the Cape Town Test.
“After what happened in Cape Town, we all sat in the changerooms after that day’s play and spoke for probably 60 to 90 minutes about what had happened and, I guess, where we went from there,” he said.
“At that stage, we probably didn’t understand how serious it would be back in Australia.”
Sayers said he felt uncomfortable watching Cummins deny knowledge of the sandpaper plan after the Test captain dismissed Khawaja’s account as nonsense during a media conference on Friday.
“I didn’t like the way he went at Usman and made it personal,” Sayers said.
“I can probably understand why, but I just don’t think it needed to happen.”
Khawaja addressed the dispute publicly for the first time since Cummins’ denial on Sunday, insisting that his version of events was accurate.
“What I wrote in my book is what I wrote in my book, and it’s the truth,” he told The Australian at Sydney Airport.
“That’s all I have to say.”
Warner, meanwhile, claimed he was not shown all the evidence before receiving the harshest punishment over the ball-tampering scandal.
In an Instagram post on Saturday, Warner wrote: “As far as I am aware, CA did not interview Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc or Nathan Lyon in their 2018 investigation.
“If that’s correct, then how can CA push the idea that the bowlers didn’t know?”
Khawaja spoke publicly on Sunday for the first time since Cummins’ denial and insisted that he had told “the truth”
David Warner (pictured centre) says he was not shown all the evidence before bearing the brunt of the punishment over Sandpapergate
“It looks like they had decided who they wanted to blame from the very beginning … ran a shoddy investigation to serve that purpose and now want to maintain the false narrative that the bowlers had no idea.
“That stinks of a cover-up.”
Several media reports later confirmed that CA had interviewed the bowlers during its investigation. Warner returned to Instagram on Sunday to clarify the point he was making.
“Just to clarify, ‘As far as I am aware’ was the POINT,” he wrote.
“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.
“Why weren’t we given all the evidence by CA?”
The now-retired international batsman was banned from all cricket for 12 months by CA and removed from the Test vice-captaincy.
Steve Smith also received a 12-month suspension and lost the captaincy, while Bancroft was banned for nine months.