Starc denies knowledge of ball-tampering plot, Cricket Australia rules out new probe

MELBOURNE, Nov 10 : Fast bowler Mitchell Starc denied on Tuesday any prior knowledge of Australia's plot to tamper with the ball during the 2018 tour of South Africa, as Cricket Australia boss Todd Greenberg ruled out another investigation into 'Sandpapergate'.

Starc is the first of Australia's bowlers to respond to Usman Khawaja's assertions in his autobiography and on social media that the whole team knew of a plan to manipulate the ball in order to get it to reverse swing.

Starc reiterated the bowlers' position from a 2021 statement that they did not know a "foreign substance" had been taken onto the field to alter the condition of the ball.

“I haven’t really paid much attention to be fair, obviously there’s differing opinions of eight years ago," Starc told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.

"We were heavily drilled through the process at the time, and since and I guess I won’t speak on behalf of the bowlers, but where I stand, my opinion hasn’t changed. My recollection hasn’t changed from what we said in 2021."

The scandal triggered an integrity probe by Cricket Australia (CA) and led to bans and other penalties for then-captain Steve Smith and former test openers David Warner and Cameron Bancroft four days after the incident came to light during the Cape Town test.

Khawaja said the team began tampering with the ball at the second test against South Africa in Gqeberha, not in the third at Cape Town where they were caught.

Starc said Khawaja's account was the first time he was aware of ball-tampering taking place in Gqeberha.

"I'll leave said authors to explain," he said.

Warner, who retired from international cricket more than two years ago, broke his silence about the scandal on Monday to throw his support behind Khawaja. 

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