Cameron Bancroft finally broke his silence amid the recently sparked controversy over the Sandpapergate scandal, which jolted Australian cricket in 2018. After almost eight years, former Australian opener Usman Khawaja made some explosive remarks ahead of the release of his autobiography.
Usman Khawaja, who was with the Australia National Cricket Team at the time of their Test series in South Africa in 2018, claimed that Cameron Bancroft volunteered the incident. Bancroft, who was then a rookie in the Australian cricket team, was caught on camera with sandpaper in hand.
Along with Cameron Bancroft, Cricket Australia found David Warner and Steve Smith also guilty of tampering with the ball. In contrast, ahead of his book launch, Usman Khawaja claimed that not only Smith, Warner, or Bancroft, but the entire Australian cricket team was well aware of the intention to do the same thing with the sandpaper.
If Khawaja's version is to be believed, then even in domestic matches, the Aussies are used to ball tampering. He further mentioned that Cameron Bancroft picked the ball from the ground when the umpires' attention was not on the ball. Because of the heavy deployment of cameras in international matches, he was caught red-handed.
Bancroft, who is now 33 and away from the national team, plays for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield. Soon after publication of Usman Khawaja's controversial comments, the reporters sought a response from Bancroft. A few days ago, on behalf of the cricketer, Beau Casson told the media that the batter moved on from the incident long ago.
Ahead of Western Australia's next match in the Sheffield Shield, the reporters are finally able to gather Bancroft's thoughts on Usman Khawaja's claims. The WA batter stated that there was a lot of buzz in the media regarding his former teammate's comments. Instead of clearing the air, Bancroft said that at this stage of his career, he did not have any further comments to add on the topic.
"In regard to Uzi's book, and I guess the media that's kind of come about there over the last few days, I don't have any further comments to add at this stage," said Bancroft.
The rise of Cameron Bancroft in international cricket
The 2014-15 season was the breakthrough moment for Cameron Bancroft when he scored 896 runs at 47.15, finishing third on the Sheffield Shield run tally. During the season, a double hundred, staying on the crease for more than 13 hours against New South Wales. That single innings was enough to display the skill and technique he had as a top-order batter. The keeper-batter made his national cricket team debut in a T20I against India in Sydney early in 2016.
He joined the national team with a lot of promise but could not find the growth as expected. He has played only 10 matches and one T20I for Australia before being dropped from the squad. In ten Tests, Bancroft registered three half-centuries.
Read More: “The truth”: Usman Khawaja responds to Pat Cummins' 'complete and utter nonsense' remarks
"I have no further comments": Cameron Bancroft responds to Usman Khawaja's Sandpapergate remarks
Published - 15 Nov 2026, 07:42 PM | Updated - 15 Nov 2026, 07:44 PM
Table of Contents
Cameron Bancroft finally broke his silence amid the recently sparked controversy over the Sandpapergate scandal, which jolted Australian cricket in 2018. After almost eight years, former Australian opener Usman Khawaja made some explosive remarks ahead of the release of his autobiography.
Usman Khawaja, who was with the Australia National Cricket Team at the time of their Test series in South Africa in 2018, claimed that Cameron Bancroft volunteered the incident. Bancroft, who was then a rookie in the Australian cricket team, was caught on camera with sandpaper in hand.
Usman Khawaja made explosive claims related to the Sandpapergate scandal
Along with Cameron Bancroft, Cricket Australia found David Warner and Steve Smith also guilty of tampering with the ball. In contrast, ahead of his book launch, Usman Khawaja claimed that not only Smith, Warner, or Bancroft, but the entire Australian cricket team was well aware of the intention to do the same thing with the sandpaper.
If Khawaja's version is to be believed, then even in domestic matches, the Aussies are used to ball tampering. He further mentioned that Cameron Bancroft picked the ball from the ground when the umpires' attention was not on the ball. Because of the heavy deployment of cameras in international matches, he was caught red-handed.
Bancroft, who is now 33 and away from the national team, plays for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield. Soon after publication of Usman Khawaja's controversial comments, the reporters sought a response from Bancroft. A few days ago, on behalf of the cricketer, Beau Casson told the media that the batter moved on from the incident long ago.
Cameron Bancroft makes comments on Usman Khawaja's claims
Ahead of Western Australia's next match in the Sheffield Shield, the reporters are finally able to gather Bancroft's thoughts on Usman Khawaja's claims. The WA batter stated that there was a lot of buzz in the media regarding his former teammate's comments. Instead of clearing the air, Bancroft said that at this stage of his career, he did not have any further comments to add on the topic.
"In regard to Uzi's book, and I guess the media that's kind of come about there over the last few days, I don't have any further comments to add at this stage," said Bancroft.
The rise of Cameron Bancroft in international cricket
The 2014-15 season was the breakthrough moment for Cameron Bancroft when he scored 896 runs at 47.15, finishing third on the Sheffield Shield run tally. During the season, a double hundred, staying on the crease for more than 13 hours against New South Wales. That single innings was enough to display the skill and technique he had as a top-order batter. The keeper-batter made his national cricket team debut in a T20I against India in Sydney early in 2016.
He joined the national team with a lot of promise but could not find the growth as expected. He has played only 10 matches and one T20I for Australia before being dropped from the squad. In ten Tests, Bancroft registered three half-centuries.
Read More: “The truth”: Usman Khawaja responds to Pat Cummins' 'complete and utter nonsense' remarks
Tagged:
Cameron Bancroft Usman Khawaja Australia National Cricket TeamAbout the Author
Pritam Santra is a writer at CricketAddictor.