Well, it seems that ‘Sandpapergate’ is well and truly back in the headlines.

In a new autobiography released today, former Australian Test batter Usman Khawaja has claimed that everyone on the team at the time of the ball-tampering scandal in 2018 knew about the plan to cheat.

At the time, a Cricket Australia investigation found that only three players — Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft — knew about the plot.

Despite the claims, Cricket Australia boss Todd Greenberg said today that the organisation would not be opening a new investigation into the incident.

For the full story, head to today’s 2-minute piece.

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The age of American golfer Blades Brown, who won the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico on Sunday to become the youngest winner of a PGA Tour event since 1931, and the fourth-youngest ever. Brown beat fellow American Ben James in a playoff to win the tournament.

“Let’s be honest, our little nations carried this World Cup. Yet we are payed [$]850 a game [compared] to the Aussies 30/40k for the tournament.”
Samoan rugby league player Spencer Leniu in an Instagram post on the disparity in payments for players from different nations at the Rugby League World Cup. He added: “I believe if they are going to use [Polynesian football fans] as a tool to generate money, our little nations should be compensated fairly for it.”

Spain’s Marc Marquez holds the record for the youngest person to win a MotoGP world championship, securing his first title in 2013 at 20 years and 266 days old. Marquez is still racing and has won seven world championships in his career so far. MotoGP is the highest class of motorcycle road racing in the world.

🏎️ Australian Formula One driver Oscar Piastri and his management team of former F1 star Mark Webber and his wife Ann have mutually agreed to part ways. Webber, an Australian motorsports legend, had worked with Piastri since 2019. A statement from Webber said: “We are proud to have played a pivotal role in the formative years of Oscar’s career.” The announcement comes after Piastri finished sixth at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday.

🎾 Aryna Sabalenka has opened her WTA Finals campaign with a straight sets victory over Czechia’s Karolína Muchová. It’s the fifth consecutive time the Belarusian has won her opening match at the season finale as she seeks her first WTA Finals title. Meanwhile, Mirra Andreeva also won her first match, defeating Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in straight sets. The WTA Finals is an annual women’s tennis tournament which brings together the world’s top eight players. This year the event is taking place at Indian Wells in California.

🏉 Carlton football player Wade Derksen has lost his driving licence for 12 months after pleading guilty to high-range drink driving. The 25-year-old was pulled over by police in the Northern Territory in September and randomly breath-tested when he recorded a blood-alcohol reading of 0.174, more than three times the legal limit. Derksen was also fined $873. Carlton imposed its own punishment in October, suspending Derksen for all of the club’s pre-season fixtures and the first three matches of the season.

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Following the departure of three-time premiership winning coach Chris Fagan, the Brisbane Lions have appointed assistant coach Cameron Bruce to lead the reigning premiers in 2027.

The Lions announced this morning that Bruce has been appointed to the club’s head coaching role on a three-year contract.

Bruce begin working has served as an assistant coach to Chris Fagan at the Lions since 2022. A former player, Bruce played 234 AFL matches between Melbourne and Hawthorn. He landed his first coaching role with the Hawks in 2013 and was part of the coaching staff that helped the club win three consecutive premierships.

Meanwhile, Fagan has taken a role at Carlton as the club’s director of coaching to help mentor Josh Fraser in his first full year as head coach.

Bruce said: “To be appointed an AFL senior coach is an incredible privilege, and to have that opportunity at the Brisbane Lions makes it even more special,”.

General Manager Football Danny Daly said: “His ability to connect with people, his football knowledge and his clear vision for how we can keep improving made him the right choice.”

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Australian cricket’s infamous ball-tampering scandal has been reignited, with former Test player Usman Khawaja claiming the entire team knew about the use of sandpaper to alter the ball.

Khawaja’s claims, made first to the Sydney Morning Herald ahead of the release of his memoir today, challenge Cricket Australia’s original investigation, which found only three players knew about the plan.

It reopens questions about who knew what on that 2018 South Africa tour, and whether three players alone carried the blame.

On day three of the third Test against South Africa in March 2018, opener Cameron Bancroft was filmed tampering with the ball, hiding the object in his trousers when challenged. Ball tampering is banned because it can unfairly help the ball swing.

Bancroft initially claimed it was sticky tape, but Cricket Australia’s investigation found:

The organisation suspended Smith and Warner for a year, and Bancroft for nine months. Warner also lost any future leadership eligibility. Cricket Australia lifted the ban in 2024, allowing Warner to take on his current role as captain of the Sydney Thunder.

At the time, Smith fronted the media to apologise. He said: “As captain of the Australian cricket team, I take full responsibility. It was a failure of leadership… I’m absolutely gutted.”

The scandal resurfaced in 2021, after Bancroft suggested in an interview with The Guardian that it was “pretty... self-explanatory” that the bowlers knew about the plan beforehand. Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon, the four bowlers in that Newlands Test, issued a joint statement denying any prior knowledge and calling for “an end to the rumour-mongering and innuendo”.

Bancroft told Cricket Australia’s integrity unit at the time that he had no new information to offer.

Released today, Khawaja’s memoir ‘Sabr’ puts the coaching staff and wider squad in the frame too. He also claims it was used in another Test earlier in the series at Gqeberha, not just at Cape Town.

Khawaja says he chose to go public partly because he had promised Warner, a childhood friend, that he would tell the truth. Of Smith, Warner, and Bancroft, he said in an Instagram post on Sunday: “These three guys took the blame for all of us, they’re the victims.”

On Monday, Warner came forward to support Khawaja, saying in a video statement that his account is “100 per cent accurate”. The former batter called Cricket Australia’s investigation “rushed and botched,” and pointed to the fact that Khawaja, who sat next to Bancroft throughout the Cape Town Test, was never interviewed.

Darren Lehmann, the team’s coach at the time, said on Saturday that tampering had long been common across the sport, but that he doubted the entire camp knew of the sandpaper plan specifically.

Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon, the other bowlers from that tour, have said nothing beyond their 2021 joint denial, with Cummins only saying last month that the group has “moved on”.

Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg says the governing body will not reopen its investigation, telling SEN that Khawaja’s book contains “specific details” that contradict other players’ accounts.

“We 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… You end up at the same intersection where one person’s version of events contradict the others, and I’m not sure what outcome people are searching for,” he said.