Former Australian batsman Usman Khawaja, who hit a few lofty blows about sandpapergate this week, dominated Kayo’s official launch of its Summer of Cricket at Sydney’s Golden Sheaf in Double Bay.
The summer promises to be Cricket Australia’s longest schedule on record, headlined by a special 150th anniversary Test between Australia and England, and a four test series against the Black Caps.
However, the day’s biggest talking point had little to do with what was coming and plenty to do with what happened eight years ago.
Mitchell Starc found himself facing a barrage of bouncers from the cricket media about Khawaja’s book, Sabr, which was released yesterday.
Starc was the first member of Australia’s current Test side to face the media since the book hit the shelves, with Khawaja’s comments on the infamous 2018 Sandpaper Gate scandal reigniting a debate that Australian cricket might have hoped was firmly in the rear-view mirror.
In Chapter 17 Khawaja suggested the entire Australian team knew about the plan to use sandpaper on the ball during the third Test against South Africa.
However, Starc was quick to reject the suggestion, maintaining that his recollection of events had not changed.
“I thought we were here for the summer of cricket,” Starc said. “I haven’t really paid much attention to it. Obviously, there are different opinions to about eight years ago. We were heavily drilled through the process at the time since. Now, I guess, I won’t speak on behalf of the bowlers, but where I stand, my opinion hasn’t changed. My recollection hasn’t changed from what we said in 2021.”
Despite an afternoon that was filled with tons of positive news, including the first 50 overs of Australia’s first One Day International against England being played for free on Kayo, Sabr continued to linger.
As Australian superstars Mitchell Starc and Ellyse Perry and Fox Cricket commentators Adam Gilchrist, Alyssa Healy, Brendon Julian, Kerry O’Keeffe, Mark Waugh, Michael Vaughan, Mike Hussey and Mel Jones took to the stage to talk about the summer that has already kicked off, Khawaja kept creeping into conversations.
First was Howard, who joked about what Starc had just encountered.
“Great to see you back firing after South Africa. Just a quiet morning this morning,” he told the crowd with B&T in attendance.
“I saw you facing the equivalent of the West Indies in the 1980s out there with the media pack. It’s been an interesting week, mate.”
Starc joked about his week replying with “our laws in good order”.
The panel that also consisted of Perry then continued talking about the men’s most recent tour to South Africa, as well as the ongoing WBBL competition.
With Khawaja in the rear view mirror, the commentary team could now just focus on the upcoming cricket schedule.
Nope, Gilchrist couldn’t help himself and turned the drama into a light-hearted joke that had the audience in stitches.
“The elephant in the room. There have been some big quotes that have come out around what happened eight years ago. It took me back to 2005 when you [talking to ex-English cricketer Michael Vaughan] were victorious in winning that Ashes series, and there was accusations about you [the English cricket team] eating sugary lollies and putting that onto the ball. You guys were clearly cheating,” he said.
“We were going to try and do the same thing, but Warnie [Shane Warne] Haydos [Mathew Hayden] kept eating the lollies, so we couldn’t actually try to make it work.”
Despite the relentless press conference faced by Starc, the commentators and Starc himself did a commendable job addressing the situation, whilst using humour to keep the audiences attention on Kayo’s Summer of the Century launch.
