Dubai: The fallout from Australia's infamous 2018 ball-tampering scandal has intensified after Mitchell Starc rejected Usman Khawaja's claims that the entire team knew about the plot to alter the ball during the Cape Town Test against South Africa.
Starc became the first current Australian player to publicly respond to the allegations, insisting he and the other bowlers had no knowledge that sandpaper was being used.
"My opinion hasn't changed, and my recollection hasn't changed from what we said in 2021," Starc said.
"We weren't aware anything was taken on the field to be tampered with. We saw it on the big screen in Cape Town."
His comments directly contradict Khawaja's account in his newly released autobiography, Sabr, in which the former Australia opener claimed the entire dressing room knew about the plan.
David Warner, who received a 12-month suspension alongside Steve Smith following the scandal, has backed Khawaja's version of events, describing his claims as "100 per cent accurate".
Warner also questioned the original Cricket Australia investigation, suggesting it was rushed and flawed.
However, Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg has ruled out reopening the investigation, despite the renewed controversy.
Greenberg said the governing body remained satisfied with its original findings, which concluded that Warner, Smith and Cameron Bancroft were the only players directly involved in the plot.
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