Usman Khawaja says Steve Smith talked him out of the Australia team taking collective responsibility for the sandpaper scandal in 2018.

Khawaja has claimed in recent days that players and coaching staff were aware of the ball-tampering that occurred in South Africa eight years ago, stating: “It was all of us.”

A huge scandal flared up in an ill-tempered series against the Proteas eight years ago, with television cameras clearly showing Cameron Bancroft using sandpaper to help generate reverse swing during the third Test in Cape Town.

The aftermath saw captain Smith and his deputy David Warner banned for a year while Bancroft, as a junior player, served nine months.

Until now, nobody else involved in the tour has ever admitted culpability.

The bowling unit of Pat Cummins – now Australia captain – Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon even released a statement in 2021 denying they knew anything about the tactic.

But Khawaja, who retired after last winter’s Ashes and is promoting his new…