The fallout from Usman Khawaja's new revelations in relation to Australian cricket's 'Sandpapergate' incident of 2018 continues to bubble after current captain Pat Cummins, who was a junior fast bowler during the infamous tour of South Africa, faced reporters for more than one hour on Friday morning as he continued to deny any knowledge of the plot.
Warner expressed a reaction of disappointment in his role as a Kayo Cricket pundit on Friday afternoon prior to the first ODI between Australia and England in Perth, accusing Cummins of "throwing (Khawaja) under the bus" during his press conference.
The 40-year-old also asserted on Friday his belief that Cricket Australia had "botched" their investigation into the incident, which resulted in year-long bans for Warner, Cameron Bancroft and then-captain Steve Smith.
Smith and Warner lost an estimated $3m each as a result of lost match fees, contract payments and IPL participation, whilst Bancroft played only two more Tests for his country before being seemingly permanently banished from the national team despite year after year of solid Sheffield Shield campaigns.
"The way it was handled in the first place, it was hard for us to go back and give more evidence. I feel like it was a botched investigation," Warner said on Kayo Cricket on Friday.
"It was a quick one to get it over and done with.
"Some of the questions were quite challenging in the way it was being planted on us and we had to move on and just accept responsibility, the three of us, and we ultimately did."
Warner intensified his criticism of Cricket Australia on Saturday with an explosive Instagram post, railing against the bowling quartet of Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon, all of whom have continued to deny any knowledge of 'Sandpapergate' from the outset despite Khawaja's suggestions otherwise.
“As far as I am aware, CA did not interview Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc or Nathan Lyon in their 2018 investigation,” Warner wrote on Saturday.
“If that’s correct, then how can CA (Cricket Australia) push the idea that the bowlers didn’t know?
“It looks like they had decided who they wanted to blame from the very beginning (and) ran a shoddy investigation to serve the purpose and now they want to maintain the false narrative that the bowlers had no idea.
“That stinks of a cover-up.”
Pressure is intensifying on CA to open up a new investigation into the incident in light of Khawaja's claims and Warner's allegations that Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon were never interviewed or consulted about their understanding of events.
On Tuesday, CA head Todd Greenberg had already expressed no intention to do so, saying there would be "nothing to gain" from establishing a new line of inquiry.
Cummins' hopes that his extraordinary Friday press conference would put the matter to bed have certainly proven to be naive at best, with debate set to linger for as long as the truth remains unclear.
Aaron Murphy has been with Flashscore since 2018 and, as the founding editor of the Australian newsdesk, has reported on-site at several major events in Melbourne including the Australian Open, State of Origin, A-League, NBL and international cricket. You can read his pieces here and contact him on X or LinkedIn.
