'Was very normal': Usman Khawaja claims Victorians were Sheffield Shield's 'best' at ball-tampering, admits he was complicit

'Was very normal': Usman Khawaja claims Victorians were Sheffield Shield's 'best' at ball-tampering, admits he was complicit originally appeared on Cricket News . Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . KEY TAKEAWAYS: Usman Khawaja claims ball-tampering was common in the Sheffield Shield in Australia , with Victoria among 'the best'. He admits being complicit despite never personally scratching the ball. Khawaja reveals an unnamed player used dried super glue on a towel to rough up the ball. MORE: Major ball-tampering incidents in cricket history listed Usman Khawaja claims Victoria were the best at ball-tampering in Sheffield Shield Usman Khawaja shed new light on ball tampering in Australian cricket, stating that the activity was prevalent in the Sheffield Shield tournament when he played. The passages from the soon-to-be-released autobiography titled "Sabr" saw Khawaja point a finger at the Victorian team. "The Victorians were probably the best at it. The MCG used to be dead and flat. Reverse swing and a bit of spin was the only way you could win a game there," Khawaja wrote. Khawaja spoke about various techniques employed by players in Victoria during the 2000s and 2010s to manipulate the ball. "The Victorians of that 2000s and 2010s era were genius at it. Throwing it into the wicket and doing other dark arts to rough it up and make the shiny side relatively shinier. It was all fair game." Khawaja also cited the case of former Australian fast bowler Mick Lewis caught on camera rubbing the ball against the concrete on the gutter while playing a Sheffield Shield match in 2016. "It was no surprise when, years later, Victoria's bowling coach, Micky Lewis, was caught on cameras scraping the ball in the gutter when it got hit for a boundary. This kind of stuff was very normal." MORE: Labuschagne dropped for NZ Tests after disastrous Test form Khawaja admits he was complicit in ball-tampering practices Khawaja claimed he never personally scratched a ball or altered it in any way, although he said he knew about it and was part of it. "I personally never tampered with a ball - in terms of scratching it or anything - but I knew everything that was going on and I wasn't against it which made me complicit," he wrote. Another method mentioned by Khawaja involved players who wanted a spinner to be hit for a six so that they could scratch the ball when the officials were not around. "To be honest, everyone knew what was going on in those teams I played in growing up. So whether you did it personally or not we were all complicit." "So even if I did not do it personally, we were all complicit." The retired batter also gave away another interesting way in which a player was rumored to have tampered with the ball in his first Sheffield Shield season. "One of the players had super glue on his towel," Khawaja wrote. "He'd get the ball on the rough side and scrub it against the dried-up super glue. It worked a treat and the ball would always reverse." MORE: 'He is accurate': Former Aussie quick, part of Sandpapergate tour, backs up Khawaja Khawaja's revelations come amid fresh Sandpapergate controversy These latest assertions follow shortly after Khawaja sparked debate about Australia’s notorious ball-tampering scandal from the 2018 Test series against South Africa. According to Khawaja’s autobiography Sabr on the Cape Town ball-tampering affair, he stated that everybody else knew about the plot that involved sandpaper, in addition to Cameron Bancroft, David Warner, and Steve Smith. While Khawaja has always maintained that everyone in the team knew about what was going on, former coach of the team, Darren Lehmann, has refuted Khawaja’s allegation that everyone knew about the sandpaper plot. Steve Smith and David Warner were banned for 12 months by Cricket Australia, whereas Cameron Bancroft got banned for nine months. Khawaja’s book "Sabr" is slated for release on Tuesday, November 10. MORE: Khawaja sides with Warner, Smith and Bancroft in 'Sandpaper scandal' Was Sandpapergate part of a wider Australian cricket culture? Khawaja's revelations make one wonder if the 2018 Sandpapergate affair was an isolated case, or just one element of a larger culture that prevailed in Australian domestic cricket. The fact that he was willing to admit his role in the affair, even though he claimed he himself did not tamper with the ball, suggests that such activities had possibly normalised themselves within the league structure. Whereas his allegations against the Victorians and other Sheffield Shield cricketers require close examination, they do suggest that there is more for Australian cricket to consider beyond the Cape Town episode. For all the latest cricket news, opinion, and commentary, and to share your voice, head to our Facebook , Instagram , and X (Twitter) pages.