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David Warner blasted Cricket Australia\u2019s handling of the 2018 ball-tampering scandal as \u201ca cover-up\u201d on Saturday, escalating a row that has torn apart the sport.<\/strong><\/p>\n Former opener Warner, who was banned for a year over his part in the \u201cSandpapergate\u201d incident in Cape Town, lashed out at what he claimed was \u201ca shoddy investigation\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAs far as I am aware, CA did not interview Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc or Nathan Lyon in their 2018 investigation,\u201d he said on Instagram.<\/p>\n \u201cIf that\u2019s correct then how can CA push the idea that the bowlers didn\u2019t know?<\/p>\n \u201cIt looks like they had decided who they wanted to blame from the very beginning, ran a shoddy investigation to serve the purpose and now they want to maintain the false narrative that the bowlers had no idea.<\/p>\n \u201cThat stinks of a cover-up.\u201d<\/p>\n Festering wounds over what happened in the third Test at Cape Town were re-opened this week when Usman Khawaja released his autobiography.<\/p>\n In the book, he alleged that the whole team knew about the plot to rough up the ball with sandpaper to make it swing.<\/p>\n A Cricket Australia probe concluded only then-skipper Steve Smith, his deputy Warner and Cameron Bancroft were in the know, with all three sent home from South Africa in disgrace.<\/p>\n Starc, Hazlewood, Lyon and Pat Cummins all denied publicly in a 2021 statement that they were aware of the plan.<\/p>\n On Friday, Cummins, now the Test captain, held a lengthy press conference to rubbish Khawaja\u2019s latest claims, calling them \u201c100 percent wrong\u201d.<\/p>\n In response, Warner accused him of throwing close friend Khawaja \u201cunder the bus\u201d.<\/p>\n Starc also stated during the week that \u201cwe weren\u2019t aware of things being taken on the field\u201d. Hazlewood and Lyon have yet to comment.<\/p>\n Cricket Australia has ruled out reopening their investigation and in a statement on Saturday said all players had been given the chance to come forward.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we have stated previously, all players were given the opportunity to speak at the time of the initial investigation and have had the ability to come forward with new evidence in the eight years since,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n \u201cSubsequently, CA has respected every player and former players\u2019 right to provide their own version of events.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n