Mitchell Starc has denied knowledge of Australia taking sandpaper onto the field at any stage during the 2018 tour of South Africa as he became the first of the established bowling quartet who played in that series to comment following the revelations in Usman Khawaja's autobiography which have been backed by David Warner.
Starc said "my recollection hasn't changed" from 2018 or from the joint statement the bowlers - him, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon - put out in 2021 following Cameron Bancroft's interview where he claimed it was "self explanatory" that the bowlers knew. Starc also indicated he "probably won't" read the book and left the nature of his future relationship with Khawaja in doubt.
Khawaja's autobiography Sabr, which was released on Tuesday, includes extensive details of not just the Cape Town Test where Australia were caught with sandpaper but the match before in Gqeberha, then Port Elizabeth, where he describes a session where the visitors had made the ball reverse swing lavishly.
"I haven't really paid much attention to it, to be fair," Starc said of the firestorm created in the last few days. "Obviously, there's differing opinions of eight years ago. We were heavily grilled through the process at the time, and since, and 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 2018."
Asked whether the whole team knew of the plan, Starc said: "That's obviously in a book. That's for someone to explain further. As far as our statement said [in 2021], we weren't aware of things being taken onto the field. We saw it on the big screen in Cape Town.
"As I said before, I'll stick to what I said five years ago, what I said at the time, eight years ago. Clearly, there's different versions from different people, and I'll leave it where I left it back then."
Asked specifically about Khawaja's claims regarding the second Test, Starc said: "That [Cape Town] is the first I was aware of any of that taking place … I'll leave that one for the author to explain."
Starc was speaking at an, unsurprisingly, well-attended launch event for host broadcaster Kayo Sports and Fox Cricket ahead of the start of the men's home international season, with the first ODI against England in Perth on Friday, which will now be overshadowed by the new revelations.
"It's definitely disappointing, that's what we're talking about heading into what has already kicked off an exciting summer," he said.
He also referenced Darren Lehmann's interview at the weekend on ABC Grandstand where the former head coach spoke of mental and emotional strain of 2018 being revisited. "He's not to be forgotten in all that as well," Starc said.
On Monday, Warner termed the 2018 investigation as "botched" and called for "accountability" and "transparency". Earlier on Tuesday, Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg said there was no "compelling reason" to re-open the investigation which resulted in bans for Warner, Bancroft and Steven Smith even though that only narrowly focused on events at Newlands.
In an Instagram post over the weekend, Khawaja insisted he had not "thrown anyone under the bus," but Alyssa Healy, Starc's wife, suggested differently, with a dose of humour, when she briefly addressed the situation on the Keepin' it Cricket podcast. Healy may share a commentary box with Khawaja over the summer as they both work for Kayo/Fox, as does Warner.
"Been scraping off bits of Mitch off the bitumen after the bus had just hit him over the last two days," she said. "I'm obviously in quite a unique predicament, I'm sitting here, I'm working in the media, I have to comment on these things [and] I'm also married to one of the players who is still playing who was there in that series and experienced all of that eight years ago.
"So it's a hard one for me to comment on. I'm kind of going to sit back and watch it unfold I think, first and foremost, but what I will say is that the timing of it is just a little bit sticky for me, I don't like that."
Speaking later at the launch event, Healy added she did not see there being any issues in the commentary box. "I'm not one to sit there and worry about sitting next to anyone in the commentary box, regardless of who it is. We're a team," she said.
"From my perspective, it seems to be a little bit closer maybe for me than some of the other [commentators]. Most of the blokes back there just say, 'Let's move on and get back to the cricket'. But from my perspective, I'm completely comfortable with [working alongside them]."
Khawaja has defended the timing of the book saying that if it was purely about sales then he would have released it during the recent South Africa tour to maximise publicity and that none of this is about money.
"Before you even start to think about royalties and book sales, I have to sell so many books for royalties to kick in," Khawaja said in another Instagram video to mark publication day of the book.
"I don't think I will ever get there. And even if it does, it's pennies. With all due respect guys, I played cricket for a long time. I am very fortunate. I don't need the money. This has never been about commercial gain, so whatever you want to feel that's up to you, but these are the facts."
Starc, meanwhile, said he had not spoken to Khawaja in recent days and when asked if the pair would talk, he said: "It's up to him."
Of the other active players at the centre of the reignited controversy, Bancroft and Lyon will be in Sheffield Shield action on Wednesday for Western Australia (at the MCG) and New South Wales (at Cricket Central) respectively. It's understood that Bancroft is continuing to weigh up whether to respond. Smith remains in New York but is due back in Sydney next week.
Mitchell Marsh is likely to be the next player from 2018 to speak when he fronts the media in Perth on Thursday as ODI captain ahead of the England series.