Former Australian head coach Darren Lehmann has questioned Usman Khawaja’s recent revelations regarding the 2018 Cape Town ball-tampering scandal, stating that "somethings are best left unsaid sometimes for the good of the game and people."

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Khawaja claimed that the entire Australian squad, including players and support staff, was aware of the ball-tampering strategy, contending that responsibility should have been collective. This directly contradicts Cricket Australia's official 2018 findings, which held only Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft accountable, leading to 12-month bans for Smith and Warner, and a nine-month ban for Bancroft.

Speaking on ABC Grandstand, Lehmann—who resigned as head coach in the wake of the incident—expressed disappointment over the resurfacing of the scandal ahead of the release of Khawaja's autobiography, Sabr.

"It has been an eventful morning, has not it? It just brings back really bad memories. It was a bad day in Australian cricket,” Lehmann said.

"Everyone around the world was doing it, as people have spoken about. The extent of how much everyone knew, that is an individual case by case. For the families and the people involved, I feel for them right now because it is taking them back to a really bad place. It is a tough one, mate. It is not ideal at the start of the summer."

Lehmann suggested that financial motives and book promotion played a role in Khawaja’s timing, questioning why the retired batter did not speak out sooner.

"Could he [Khawaja] have said this at the time [eight years]? I suppose that is one of the things in the book. Books are there to sell. He is retired. I have not spoken to Usman, to be fair. He has not texted me or rung me. That is just the way it is," he said.

"I had to have a lot of help ... behind the scenes [after that incident]. It is not easy to talk about … but it puts you back in a bad place. Hopefully, I can get through this."

"That is part and parcel of selling books, I suppose. I do not know what he is getting paid. He is probably getting paid a lot of money to do it. Is it worth it? I do not know. Maybe I write a book. Sometimes things are [best] left unsaid sometimes for the good of the game, and the good of the people," Lehmann added.

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Addressing Khawaja’s claim that he urged the team to accept collective responsibility, Lehmann noted he had no recollection of such a conversation:

"No, I do not remember that. There were two change rooms [at the Cape Town venue] and meetings going on everywhere. I was in meetings with Cricket Australia a lot. I cannot remember that, but it could have been the case. That is what it is from his point of view."

"I do not think everyone would have known. But you do know ball tampering is going on because it has been happening for 150 years," he remarked.

The allegations have renewed focus on Australia’s bowling attack—Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon—who previously issued a joint statement in 2021 denying knowledge of any foreign substance being used. Lehmann noted it is now up to them to address Khawaja's statements.

"How much did they know? Only they know individually. They have been greats of the game. We are talking eight years ago. It is the Australian captain (Cummins). He has done a bloody good job over a long period of time," Lehmann concluded.

Khawaja’s account: A call for collective responsibility

Explaining his decision to break his silence, Khawaja stated to Nine, as reported by Cricinfo, that he felt compelled to speak out after years of watching Smith, Warner, and Bancroft carry sole blame.

"It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us. In an ideal world, I don't want to do this. I don't want to be the one who comes out and talks about the truth. The issue is that I genuinely thought after eight years the truth would have been out by now," Khawaja said.

"Maybe I thought Davey would have exposed it, or someone else would have talked about it more. I just didn't think it was going to come down to this. But the longer it is gone on for, and right from the very start, I have been on the train of collectively taking it."

Khawaja detailed how he urged the team to stand together immediately following the match in 2018:

"Even in the change rooms when I was talking to them after the game. I said, 'Take this as a team'. We did this as a team. We knew what was going on, and we had to take it as a team, and so I was always of that stance. Obviously, it didn't work that way, and those three guys got crucified. I have seen Davey over the last eight years just get nailed bad over and over again, and it's taken a big man not to say anything and just to stay quiet."

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He also detailed the long-term career and psychological toll the sanctions took on the three sanctioned players:

"And then 'Bangers' [Bancroft], in the same note, particularly, he played a little bit of Test cricket after that, but then never came back in, even though he's been scoring a lot of runs. He's been a terrific cricketer for a long time, but I know it's something that hangs over his head."

"Even Steve Smith. Steve's lucky, the greatest batsman of my generation. He came back from that, and he is come back as good as he ever was in that first Ashes series, and it is kind of been forgotten for him in some respects. But I know he has never forgotten that year and how it all panned out."

Khawaja maintained that his motivations stem entirely from seeking justice for his former teammates:

"But I am not doing this for any other reason than I think it is the right thing to do. I have always felt like there is more to life than just cricket, and these guys, in some respect, deserve that justice. And it just does not feel like anyone's going to give it to them. None of those three wants to be the first to say anything. And rightly so, it will just be hearsay and 'their word' if they do. They needed someone else to say something."

Furthermore, Khawaja revealed that Cricket Australia’s official investigation, led by Iain Roy and Pat Howard, bypassed him entirely:

"I was sitting next to Cam Bancroft that whole Test match, and I didn't get interviewed. I thoroughly feel that I didn't get interviewed because of that, because they knew that I wanted to take it as a team, because they knew I was ready to tell the truth if I was interviewed," he concluded. (ANI)