Usman Khawaja has withdrawn from his remaining television and radio interviews for the promotional marketing campaign of his new e-book, Sabr, following a tense appearance on the ABC’s 7.30 program. Publisher Penguin has confirmed adjustments to the schedule but insisted that the e-book tour has not been cancelled.
Host Sarah Ferguson questioned Khawaja about claims in the memoir regarding Australia’s 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. The chapter, titled “Sandpaper”, has drawn reactions from former teammates, with David Warner backing Khawaja’s account while Mitchell Starc has rejected the claims.
Usman Khawaja Pulls Out of TV and Radio Interviews After Fiery ABC Look
Usman Khawaja confronted repeated questions from Ferguson throughout Tuesday evening’s interview about his claim that all the Australian staff knew about the ball-tampering plan.
In Sabr, Usman Khawaja wrote, “It was all of us,” but averted naming particular players when asked whether or not bowlers reminiscent of Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc knew about using sandpaper.
The 37-year-old acknowledged that he had already shared his account in the e-book and did not need his comments to trigger a “witch-hunt” towards former teammates and mates.
Following the looks, Penguin confirmed that Khawaja wouldn’t participate in any further television or radio interviews for the marketing campaign. The writer emailed a number of media outlets on Wednesday morning to speak the adjustments, nevertheless it did not specify which individual appearances had been cancelled.
Penguin Confirms E book Tour Is ‘100 Per Cent Still Going Forward’
Penguin rejected stories that all the promotional marketing campaign had been scrapped. In a written assertion to ABC Sport, the writer confirmed that the schedule had modified but maintained that Khawaja would continue with other commitments.
“The e-book tour is 100 [per cent] nonetheless going forward, we’ve simply needed to make some adjustments this week but no major cancellation of the tour at all,” the assertion read.
Penguin additionally confirmed that Usman Khawaja would continue to take part in interviews about Sabr. He is expected to honour his scheduled podcast appearances and in-person e-book tour events regardless of withdrawing from mainstream television and radio programmes.
David Warner Backs Khawaja’s Claims as Mitchell Starc Rejects <a href="https://cricket.worldwide/australian-cricketers-association-breaks-silence-on-usman-khawajas-sandpapergate-claims/” title=”Australian Cricketers' Association breaks silence on Usman Khawaja's Sandpapergate claims”>Sandpapergate Claims
Usman Khawaja’s revelation has divided opinion among his former Australian teammates. David Warner publicly supported the claims in a press release on Monday evening, describing the account of the dressing-room events as “100 per cent correct”.
Starc stood by the joint assertion he launched in 2021 alongside Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon. Throughout a media appearance on Tuesday, the Australian quick bowler rejected options that the bowlers knew sandpaper was being used to change the ball throughout the 2018 South Africa tour.
Cameron Bancroft additionally declined to debate the claims intimately throughout a short interplay with reporters at Melbourne Airport. He was arriving forward of a Sheffield Defend match between Western Australia and Victoria at the MCG, while Steve Smith has yet to remark publicly on Khawaja’s e-book.
The 2018 Cape City scandal resulted in suspensions for Smith, Warner and Bancroft after Australia were caught utilizing sandpaper to tamper with the ball. Warner and Smith served a year-long ban, while Bancroft served a nine-month ban for utilizing the sandpaper.
Supply: cricketaddictor.com
