David Warner has hit back at Australia captain Pat Cummins over his response to Usman Khawaja’s claims about the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, expressing disappointment at what he described as an attempt to throw Khawaja under the bus.
Commentating on the ODI between Australia and England in Perth for Fox Sports, Warner threw his support behind Khawaja, whose autobiography has reignited debate over the Cape Town scandal.
“Pat Cummins was very well prepared this morning, and, you know, I still stick by Uzzy and what he’s written in that book. It’s the truth, and I really support him. I actually feel for him at the moment. I actually feel that the captain today threw Uzzy under the bus, and I’m very, very disappointed about that.
“All three of us have paid a big price in this, and, you know, I hadn’t spoken about it in eight years. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to live with these consequences daily, and, you know, we’ve been served a life punishment. So, when other people talk about how they’ve been affected by it, there’s nothing worse for me, Steven and Cameron, who have to walk out there every single day and cop abuse. Yes, we accepted it, but, at the end of the day, my wife and I have paid the greatest price. We lost a baby during that time, and that’s why it really hurts me the most, until the truth is accepted.
“It’s been very difficult because the way that it was handled in the first place made it hard for us to go back and actually give more evidence. I felt like it was a botched investigation. It was a quick one to get it over and done with.
“We don’t have that opportunity to go there and speak again. Todd Greenberg squashed that the other day, so I thought there would probably be conversations behind the scenes, probably after all this.”
Cummins had earlier dismissed Khawaja’s claims as “100% wrong” and “utter nonsense”. Khawaja, in his newly released autobiography, alleged that the entire Australian team, including Cummins, knew about the ball-tampering plan during the 2018 Test against South Africa in Cape Town.
Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft were handed suspensions for their involvement in the scandal. Warner’s latest comments suggest that the episode remains a deeply personal issue for the former Australia opener, who believes the full circumstances surrounding the investigation have never been adequately addressed.
Published on Nov 13, 2026
