Australia's Mitchell Starc bowls during a practice session ahead of the fifth and final Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Australia pacer Mitchell Starc said his ‘recollection hasn’t changed’ in response to former teammate Usman Khawaja’s comments about the 2018 Sandpapergate conspiracy. Last week, Khawaja had said that the entire Australian team was a part of the conspiracy even though only three players ended up being punished for the scandal.

In his soon-to-be-released book, Khawaja has said that then-captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner, and opener Cameron Bancroft were made scapegoats by the game’s administrators, even though the entire team was aware of the plan to use sandpaper to alter the ball during the Cape Town Test against South Africa.…