Among many explosive clams Khawaja makes in his autobiography Sabr, Khawaja alleges every member of the Aussie dressing room was aware of the plot to use sandpaper to tamper with the ball during the Tour of South Africa in 2018. <\/p>\n
Cameron Bancroft was sprung using sandpaper to rough up the surface of the ball and was hit with a nine month ban following a Cricket Australia investigation. <\/p>\n
Ex-captain Steve Smith and retired Aussie opener David Warner were hit with 12 month bans. <\/p>\n
Khawaja\u2019s claims have ripped open the old wounds from the 2018 scandal and members within the Aussie Test community have criticised Khawaja for \u201ctrying to sell a book\u201d \u2014 and now Cleese appears to have been under the impression that Ponting was among them. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s terribly unfair to have exposed the Australian cheating,\u201d Cleese sarcastically posted on X in regard to fake quotes attributed to Ponting.<\/p>\n
\u201cMuch better to sweep it under the carpet. Then they can go on doing it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter all, it helps them win matches and that\u2019s what really matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cleese\u2019s remarks come in response to a fake comments posted by an X account that has regularly shared viral rumours about international cricket and the IPL. <\/p>\n
\u201cAustralian cricket is looking in a serious hole again,\u201d the fake Ricky Ponting quotes, posted by account @cricketmythos, read.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe lost that Test series against South Africa, and now Usman Khawaja has re ignited that infamous sandpaper saga again. What was the need of all this? What happened was past, there is no use to push the facts again & again. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis could possibly trigger a massive collapse. David Warner is talking everything openly in public, ex cricketers are talking, even Pat Cummins looked under immense pressure. That was totally unnecessary from Khawaja.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Ponting is not known to have in fact shared his opinion, former Aussie coach Darren Lehmann has publicly questioned the motivation behind Khawaja\u2019s book. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think everyone would have known,\u201d Lehmann told ABC Grandstand.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do know ball tampering is going on because it\u2019s been happening for 150 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just how it\u2019s being done, and how you would know to that extent? That\u2019s an individual case by case, to be fair.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can only speak to what I know, and I know ball tampering was a big part of the game of cricket. Now it is obsolete.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t make it right either, but that\u2019s the case, and we paid a heavy price for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Khawaja made a sensational claim in the book that he suggested to teammates at the time the entire playing should have taken the collective blame \u2014 only to be shouted down by more than one teammate<\/p>\n
Lehmann could not substantiate that such a conversation took place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember that. There were two change rooms obviously, and there were meetings going on everywhere. To be perfectly honest I was in meetings with Cricket Australia a lot,\u201d Lehmann said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat could have been the case, I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m not saying yes or no to that one. There will be different points of view everywhere on this whole matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
He went on to say: \u201cCould he have said this at the time? I suppose that\u2019s one of the things in the book. I mean, books are there to sell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lehmann said on Saturday he has not spoken to or received a text message from Khawaja.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"English comedy legend John Cleese has taken a swing at former Test captain Ricky Ponting in a 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