Former Australia bowling coach David Saker has reportedly been accused of asking Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft not to reveal the truth about the yellow object used to tamper with the ball in Cape Town as the infamous 2018 ball-tampering scandal continues to rule the headlines.

The fresh allegations have emerged following the release of Usman Khawaja's autobiography, in which he shared several details about the sandpapergate controversy. Read Also: Ex-Australia PM Malcolm Turnbull hits back at Usman Khawaja over Sandpapergate claims.

David Saker accused of asking Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft to hide Sandpaper truth

As reported by The Age, David Saker repeatedly told Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft not to admit that the object taken onto the field at Newlands was sandpaper. Sources familiar to Australia’s 2018 tour of South Africa revealed Saker was repeatedly saying, “You can’t say sandpaper."

Bancroft was caught using a yellow object to alter the conditions of the ball. At the press conference after that day's play, Bancroft told reporters that he had used tape to collect rough pieces from the pitch and rub them on the ball. Smith was also questioned about the move.

However, the truth about the sandpaper came out publicly only after Cricket Australia announced strict punishments against Smith, Bancroft, and David Warner. Interestingly, Usman Khawaja did not directly mention Saker's alleged advice in his book.

Usman Khawaja recalls coach encouraging Cameron Bancroft before ball-tampering scandal

The former Australian opener recalled that the team was in complete confusion that evening and that he, along with team media manager Kate Hutchison, tried to stop Smith from facing the cameras. However, Khawaja shared another incident involving an unnamed coach and Bancroft.

Khawaja claimed that during the lunch break, before the 2018 ball-tampering scandal was exposed, he saw the coach encouraging Bancroft to continue whatever he was doing to get a reverse swing. The former opening batter also claimed that he later saw Bancroft pick up a piece of sandpaper and put it in his pocket, while the coach walked away with a smile.

Khawaja writes of the unnamed coach in his book, “With a smile on his face, he said, ‘Bangers, whatever you’re doing, we need more of it.'" It’s wet out there—we just need more of it.' Then I saw Bangers pick up a piece of sandpaper and put it in his pocket. The coach gave both me and Cameron a wry smile of satisfaction and walked away.”

Coach allegedly asked players to find ways to generate reverse swing

Khawaja also described a team meeting held before the South Africa series. According to his account, a coach had told the players that they needed to find a way to make the old ball swing in the air because Test batters were becoming too comfortable against straight deliveries.

The coach reportedly told them that he did not care what methods were used, but getting a reverse swing was important. He wrote, "We need to get the ball shifting when it gets old. I don’t care what you have to do or how, but we need to get it moving in the air. That’s the only chance we have.”

David Saker believed to be the coach mentioned in Khawaja's book

The sources believe the coach mentioned by Khawaja was Saker. He was Australia's bowling coach at the time and was known for using the word "shifting" when talking about reverse swing.

There are also reports that Saker signed a non-disclosure agreement with Cricket Australia after leaving his position in February 2019. However, he had spoken about the scandal in 2021 when he admitted that several people could be blamed for what happened.

Notably, Chadd Sayers, who was part of the 2018 South Africa tour and played his only Test in the final match in Johannesburg, has also backed Khawaja’s claims after Warner.

This raised questions about whether the Australian attack, including Pat Cummins, lied about the incident back then.