Joe Root shuts down Usman Khawaja’s claim that ‘the whole world’ was ball tampering after Australian’s explosive Sandpapergate confession… and Jacob Bethell flies home from tour with knee flare-up
Joe Root has played down Usman Khawaja’s claim that ‘the whole world’ was tampering with the ball after the former Australia opener revealed his team had picked the seam during the 2017-18 Ashes.
Khawaja, whose autobiography, Sabr, has reignited the sandpaper controversy of eight years ago, wrote that the Australians had discovered during their 4-0 win that winter that ‘if we raised the flaps up on the quarter seam on that ball, it was almost like it had a rudder on it and it’d start reverse swinging’.
He added: ‘And before you start going at me, calm down. The whole world was doing whatever little they could to try and reverse swing the ball.’
Asked whether that was the case, Root replied: ‘I can only speak from my own experiences. That’s not how I feel.’
With emotions running high in Australia following Khawaja’s claim that the whole team knew about the sandpaper plot at Cape Town in 2018, and not just the three players who took the blame – Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft – Root repeatedly sidestepped questions on the subject.
‘We obviously have no idea,’ he said. ‘It’s all speculation. Our focus, our concerns are on this three-match series.’
Joe Root (left) insists it is not the case that the ‘whole world’ was ball tampering as Usman Khawaja (right) has claimed in his new book
Pressed on how Khawaja’s allegations made him feel about the 2017-18 series, when Root was captain, he replied: ‘I wasn’t in that dressing-room. I don’t know what went on. I don’t want to speculate, as I said. My focus is with this team right now and what we’ve got coming up.’
Meanwhile, Khawaja has pulled out of TV and radio interviews to publicise his book after he was grilled on its contents on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s high-profile 7.30 programme on Tuesday evening.
Khawaja was repeatedly asked by host Sarah Ferguson to elaborate on his claims that the whole team knew about the sandpaper plot, including Pat Cummins, now Australia’s captain.
But Khawaja declined to add more details, insisting: ‘I’m not here to inflame the situation any more.
‘I was here to tell my truth, what I saw, what I felt, and to stick with those three guys that were made out to be the only people who have taken [the blame].’
BETHELL TO FLY HOME
Jacob Bethell’s part in England’s eight-match white-ball tour is over before it has begun after he suffered swelling in his troublesome right knee – casting doubt on his fitness for next month’s Test series in South Africa.
Bethell, who will fly back to the UK from Perth on Saturday, has not played any cricket since July 19, when he injured the knee during the Lord’s ODI against India.
Friday’s first ODI against Australia at the Optus Stadium was supposed to mark his comeback, but instead he will see a specialist back home to ascertain the extent of the problem. The first Test against the South Africans begins on December 17 at Centurion.
With fast bowler Josh Tongue already ruled out of the three-match 50-over series and the five T20s to follow because of a toe injury, England have called up two uncapped players as cover: Sussex’s spin-bowling all-rounder James Coles and Hampshire quick Eddie Jack.
The loss of Bethell is a blow as England look to build a settled side capable of competing in next year’s one-day World Cup in southern Africa, though it resolves one question: the path is now clear for Tom Banton to continue the opening partnership with Ben Duckett that flourished during the recent tri-series in Pakistan.
