Mitchell Starc refutes Usman Khawaja's Sandpapergate claims, denies awareness of ball tampering plan

Mitchell Starc has categorically denied knowing about Australia's plan to take sandpaper onto the field during the 2018 tour of South Africa. His stance contradicts claims in Usman Khawaja's autobiography, Sabr, in which he alleged that the team used sandpaper on the ball during the Gqeberha Test before moving to Cape Town, and that everyone on the side knew about the plan. Khawaja's former teammate David Warner has also publicly backed those assertions, describing them as "100% accurate".

Starc, along with Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, issued a joint statement in 2021 maintaining that they did not know the sandpaper plot. The left-arm quick has stood by that position and also suggested he would "probably not" read Khawaja's autobiography, which was released on Tuesday.

"I haven't really paid much attention to it, to be fair," Starc said when asked about the media storm surrounding Khawaja's claims. "Obviously, there are differing opinions about something that happened eight years ago. We were heavily grilled throughout the process at the time and in the years since. I won't speak on behalf of the other bowlers, but my opinion hasn't changed. My recollection hasn't changed from what we said in 2021."

"That's obviously in a book. That's for someone else to explain further. As our statement said [in 2021], we weren't aware of anything being taken onto the field. We saw it on the big screen in Cape Town," Starc responded when asked whether the entire team knew about the plan.

"As I've said before, I'll stick to what I said five years ago and what I said at the time, eight years ago. Clearly, there are different versions of events from different people, and I'll leave it where I left it back then."

When specifically questioned about Khawaja's claims regarding the second Test at Gqeberha, Starc said: "That [Cape Town] was the first time I became aware of any of that taking place. I'll leave that one for the author to explain."

Speaking at the launch event for broadcasters Kayo Sports and Fox Cricket ahead of Australia's men's home international season, which begins with the first ODI against England in Perth on Friday, Starc admitted he was disappointed that the build-up to the summer had been overshadowed by renewed discussion of the ball-tampering scandal.

"It's definitely disappointing that this is what we're talking about heading into what has already started as an exciting summer," Starc said.