Todd Greenberg Rules Out Reopening 2018 Ball-Tampering Investigation

Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg has officially rejected calls to reopen the inquiry into the 2018 ball-tampering scandal. Greenberg maintains that the board remains entirely comfortable with the initial investigation’s findings, despite recent claims by Usman Khawaja that the entire Australian squad was aware of the illicit use of sandpaper during the South Africa tour.

These developments follow comments made by Khawaja in his autobiographySabrwhich allege that the broader team had knowledge of the tampering. This contradicts a 2021 joint statement from bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon, who formally denied any awareness of the act. Furthermore, Khawaja expressed surprise that he was never interviewed by investigators despite his proximity to teammate Cameron Bancroft during the Cape Town Test.

David Warner has since publicly supported Khawaja’s account, describing his former teammate’s revelations as 100 percent accurate and labeling the original board investigation as rushed and botched. Warner has called for those who conducted the probe to be held accountable for the process.

Addressing these claims for the first time, Greenberg stated he has immense respect for Khawaja’s desire to share his perspective. While he has not yet read the book in its entirety, he confirmed he had been informed of its release by Khawaja months prior. However, Greenberg insisted that the new testimony does not provide a sufficient basis to revisit a closed chapter. But I’ll hopefully get an opportunity to do it, but Usman was good enough to let me know some months ago that he would be releasing a book, and I really appreciated that call,” Greenberg told SEN, clearly it is out. And not respond to the headlines or the subsequent commentary that gets created, and I want to be really careful to consider what Usman’s actually said. And our position hasn’t changed on that,” he said, that includes what we’ve seen from Usman.

Greenberg explained that the board must focus on the specific claims made by Khawaja rather than the surrounding media discourse. He emphasized that throughout the past eight years, players have consistently been encouraged to provide testimony. Regarding the prospect of a new investigation, he argued that it would be futile.

“We don’t see any compelling reason to open the investigation or revisit this again,” Greenberg told SEN. “I don’t think there’s anything that can be gained from that.” He noted that the inquiry is at a standstill where competing versions of the same historical moment remain in direct conflict, making a consensus outcome impossible to achieve. And I’m not sure what outcome people are searching for,” he said, you end up at the same intersection where one person’s version of events contradict the others.

The original 2018 investigation resulted in 12-month bans for then-captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner, along with a nine-month suspension for Cameron Bancroft. Greenberg reiterated that the board’s position on the matter has not shifted, noting that the inclusion of Khawaja’s latest comments has not altered their assessment of the case.