David Warner alleged on Saturday that Cricket Australia never interviewed Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood or Nathan Lyon during its 2018 ball-tampering investigation, calling the probe a cover-up.

The former Australian opener posted the claim on Instagram, a day after he accused Test captain Pat Cummins of throwing Usman Khawaja under the bus. Cricket Australia has previously said it has no intention of reopening the investigation.

Warner wrote:

“As far as I am aware, CA did not interview Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc or Nathan Lyon in their 2018 investigation. If that’s correct, then how can CA push the idea that the bowlers didn’t know?”

He added in the same post: “It looks like they had decided whom they wanted to blame from the very beginning, ran a shoddy investigation to serve the purpose, and now they want to maintain the false narrative that the bowlers had no idea. That stinks of a cover-up.”

Cricket Australia rejected the allegation on Saturday. The board said every player had been given the opportunity to speak at the time of the initial investigation.

“As we have stated previously, all players were given the opportunity to speak at the time of the initial investigation and could come forward with new evidence in the eight years since. Subsequently, CA has respected every player and former player’s right to provide their own version of events.”

The incident took place eight years ago in the Cape Town Test between South Africa and Australia. Warner and then captain Steve Smith were banned for 12 months, while Cameron Bancroft received a nine-month suspension. Warner would never be able to lead Australia again.

The issue returned to the spotlight after Khawaja’s autobiography ‘Sabr’, in which he claimed the entire team knew about the plan to use sandpaper on the ball. Khawaja said he was never spoken to despite sitting next to Cameron Bancroft during discussions about using sandpaper on the ball.

Khawaja also wrote that a ball-tampering episode took place in a Test before Cape Town, a claim Cummins denied as well. Warner has supported Khawaja’s claims.

Cummins addressed the claims on Friday in a 68-minute press conference, dismissing them as “complete and utter nonsense”. He admitted the dressing-room culture at the time was not ideal, and the players had a “win-at-all-costs” mentality. Cummins said he spoke to investigators and that there were calls at the time for anyone with more information to come forward.

Warner had responded to Cummins on Friday afternoon, saying he felt “the captain today threw Uzzie under the bus”. He said he feels for his childhood friend Khawaja.

The bowling group of Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon released a statement in 2021 saying they were not aware the sandpaper was being taken onto the field. That stance is maintained by them.

Warner has not named Cummins in his allegation, even though Cummins played the Cape Town Test in 2018. His latest comments landed ahead of Australia’s opening ODI of the summer against England.