Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg has ruled out reopening the investigation into the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. Speaking to SEN on Tuesday 10 November 2026, he said it was the clear position of the CA board that there was no benefit in revisiting the matter.
What Was Announced
The question arose after Usman Khawaja, in his memoir, claimed Australia had used sandpaper in the Test before Cape Town, at St George's Park in 2018. Greenberg said he had spoken to several members of the 2018 touring team since Khawaja raised the events over the weekend.
"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," Greenberg said. "We have said we're comfortable with the outcome of the investigation based on the information we've received. That includes what we've seen from Usman, and our position hasn't changed on that."
He added that "the matter was dealt with under a previous leadership back in 2018" and that "Usman's version of events is inconsistent with what others have had to say".
CA's investigation at the time sanctioned Cameron Bancroft, Steve Smith and David Warner, who were all banned and later returned to the Test side. The bowlers from the Cape Town Test, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, issued a joint statement in 2021 saying they did not know a foreign substance had been taken onto the field until they saw the images on the big screen at Newlands. According to the report, Warner said Khawaja's account was "100 per cent accurate".
What It Means
The 2018 investigation and its outcome stand. Greenberg said the bowling group's position had not changed in his conversations with them, and that Cummins is expected to speak publicly in the days or weeks ahead.
Source: Cricket Australia report.