Australia doomed to live with stench of sandpapergate

Are Pep Guardiola's trophies at Manchester City rendered worthless by financial rule breaches? Would either of the Houston Astros or Boston Red Sox have won the World Series without sign stealing? How much fake blood was spilled by Harlequins?

Now, sandpapergate has morphed into Usman Khawaja's-book-gate, opening old wounds and asking questions that have hung over Australian cricket since Cameron Bancroft hid some DIY equipment in his jockstrap in 2018. Published on Tuesday, Khawaja's autobiography – Sabr – is only suggesting what plenty have suspected for the past eight years. It always seemed likely that Bancroft, Steve Smith and David Warner were not the only three members of the Australia camp with knowledge of the sandpaper plot.

Careful with his words, perhaps for legal reasons, Khawaja has said enough to reignite a row that once consumed the entire nation of Australia. Crucially, the former batter has not named individuals and, in the opinion of Cricket Australia (CA), not presented enough evidence to merit a new investigation.