New Delhi, Nov 12 (IANS) Former Australian cricketer and deputy chairman of Queensland cricket, Ian Healy, hit out at Usman Khawaja over an old feud as he criticised the former opener for not detailing the injury saga in his book ‘Sabr’.
Khawaja’s autobiography made the headlines even before the release, as the now 39-year-old claimed that “all” members of the Australian team were aware of the use of the sandpaper during the Cape Town Test against South Africa in 2018 and that Australia had also used the object on the ball in the previous Test match in Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha).
Apart from those explosive claims, Khawaja opened up on a separate incident with Healy during his playing days. In his book, the former Queensland captain addressed Healy’s criticism of him attending the Australian Grand Prix in 2024 instead of playing a match for Queensland.
Khawaja stated that he was “absolutely nailed” by Healy back then and he had implied “I was only worried about myself and not giving back.”
Healy hit out at Khawaja over the issue and claimed that he did not mention the full story of him missing that game for Queensland. “He didn’t even tell the team why he wasn’t playing. I sussed it out with all sorts of medicos in our dressing room and the head of our high performance, and they denied the injury,” Healy said, as quoted by SEN.
“They tested him structurally and his functionality, and they said there is no hammy (hamstring injury); you are right to play. He did not say that in his book. Then they said, ‘Let’s get it scanned this afternoon,’ and he refused to get it scanned. That’s what I was going on, and it was a shame he does not support his team better than that,” Healy added.
Khawaja’s claims have reignited a fresh debate in Australian cricket. Khawaja had made the explosive claims in his books, stating that all of the team knew about the Sandpapergate.
“It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us,” Khawaja said, as quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald. “In an ideal world, I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to be the one who comes out and talks about the truth. The issue is that I genuinely thought after eight years the truth would have been out by now.”
The issue was later backed by David Warner, who was handed a one-year ban and a lifetime leadership ban from leading in international and Australian domestic cricket, which was later overturned in 2024.
–IANS
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