At Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town on March 24, 2018, Cameron Bancroft was caught attempting to alter the ball's condition using sandpaper during the third Test against South Africa. The incident triggered one of Australian cricket's most damaging controversies.

Now, speaking on Track Radio, Chris Broad, the former England cricketer and match referee, has intensified scrutiny on Darren Lehmann, who was Australia's head coach at the time. Broad's intervention comes as Usman Khawaja's upcoming autobiography, 'Sabr', has reignited debate about collective responsibility in the scandal. Khawaja claims that the entire Australian team, including players and support staff, possessed knowledge of the ball-tampering episode. Broad has seized on these revelations to question Lehmann's accountability.

"Darren Lehmann surely knew all about it," said Broad in the above mentioned source.

He went further, arguing that ignorance would have been equally damaging to Lehmann's position. The former coach stepped down from his role a few months after the scandal but faced no formal sanctions.

"If he did not, he should not have been the coach at the time. I think he has got away lightly. OK, he left his job a few months later, but he did not get any sanctions," said Broad.

Broad's criticism carries particular weight given his history with Lehmann. During the 2013 Ashes series, Lehmann had publicly attacked Stuart Broad, Chris Broad's son, after Stuart chose not to walk following an edge to the slips at Trent Bridge. Lehmann had warned that the Australian team would make Stuart Broad cry when England toured Australia later that year.

Why did Lehmann escape accountability?

Broad expressed his frustration at what he views as a double standard. He articulated anger at Lehmann's position as the coach of a team that brought sandpaper onto the field while denying knowledge of the act.

"And here he is, the coach of the Australian cricket team that brought sandpaper out onto the field of play and denied any knowledge of this happening. I am very angry at Darren Lehmann in this respect," Broad stated.

The 2018 incident resulted in significant sanctions for three players. Then captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner received one-year bans from competitive cricket, while Bancroft was suspended for nine months from international and domestic cricket. Khawaja has questioned Cricket Australia's investigation, noting that several team members were not interviewed despite allegedly having knowledge of the incident.

What did Khawaja reveal about the broader pattern?

Khawaja's autobiography disclosed that the Australian team had used sandpaper during the second Test in Gqeberha before the Cape Town incident came to light. He also made revelations about Australia's attempts to alter the condition of the ball during the 2017-18 home Ashes series, claiming that players had lifted the quarter-seam to facilitate reverse swing. These disclosures suggest a pattern of ball-tampering attempts rather than an isolated incident.

Australia won the third Test at Perth by an innings, a victory that helped them regain the Ashes. Broad's criticism found unexpected support from David Warner, who backed Khawaja's revelations about the 2018 tour and wrote on X: I could not agree more, and that's hard for me to say!