Steve O’Keefe and Stuart MacGill have both defended Usman Khawaja, hitting out at the “delusional” criticism of the former Australian star.
Khawaja dropped a bombshell over the weekend, claiming that the entire team knew about the plan to use sandpaper in a 2018 ball-tampering scandal.
Usman Khawaja. Darrian Traynor/Getty Images
The former Aussie opener declared that he wanted the team to take the blame as a collective, instead of hanging David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft out to dry following the Cape Town incident more than eight years ago.
Warner has since backed Khawaja’s version of events on social media, with the current group of players yet to respond to the allegations.
The criticism levelled at Khawaja since he went public has centred around the timing of his comments, coinciding with the release of his autobiography.
However, according to former Test spinner MacGill, that narrative is off the mark.
“Somebody who has played international cricket for 10 years and played Shield cricket for 20, this is a drop in the ocean for him this book … this is not a money play, there’s no doubt about that,” MacGill told Fanatics Podcast.
“Anybody who suggests he is doing it for cash is delusional.”
The decision to go public eight years after the fact and nearly a year after retiring from international cricket has raised plenty of eyebrows.
Many will argue Khawaja could have spoken up sooner, while others concede it would have derailed his career in the baggy green.
O’Keefe, who played nine Tests for Australia and played alongside Khawaja for NSW early in their careers, backed the retired batsman’s decision.
“I do want to look at Usman’s motivation – after hearing Usman Khawaja and hearing some context, I am extremely sympathetic to him,” O’Keefe said.
“I believe in my heart of hearts that he was trying to serve his own justice for three players who he believed had been treated poorly and wrongly.
“When he’s writing that book, he can’t leave that chapter out in blank. He wants to fill it in and he wants to do it truthfully and that is who I believe Usman is.
“Some people in some corners are saying he’s thrown his teammates under the bus, but I actually think it’s the reverse. I don’t think he’s trying to throw anyone under the bus, I believe he is trying to set the record straight.”
Usman Khawaja. Getty
Khawaja wrote in his book that he was “pissed off” with the bowling group, which includes current captain Pat Cummins, for distancing themselves in a joint statement after the ball-tampering incident first took place.
He also alleged that two unnamed members of the 2018 Australian squad blocked his push to take the blame as team.
Bancroft offered no comment when stopped by media at the airport on Monday, while Smith is yet to speak publicly since Khawaja’s claims.
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