Australia's Mitchell Marsh sidesteps sandpapergate questions ahead of England series

Usman Khawaja's revelations in his autobiography, Sabr, have hung his former teammates out to dry. The claim that all the players knew sandpaper was being used to tamper with the ball and that it was used throughout the Test series has opened up wounds of old for Australian cricket. Many of that group went unpunished and are still wearing the Baggy Green today.

One such player is Marsh, albeit only in the white-ball format. Speaking to the press ahead of the opening ODI against England in Perth, the power hitter was made to square up when the very first question was a reverse-swinging yorker dug out by the toe of his bat.

Marsh featured in all four Tests of that fateful 2018 series. The medium-pacer also had the ball in hand when Australia took four wickets for 28 runs in the Gqeberha Test as the 70-odd over ball began to reverse-swing prodigiously. Marsh took two of them.

As such, when Marsh was asked if he knew about the sandpaper, he only just managed to get bat on ball.

"There's obviously been a lot of noise around this week, and I respect that certain people have told their stories, but I'm not here to share mine today," he told Thursday's press conference.

"I know that might sound weird, but it's a big week for us, and it's an important time for this one-day group, and my sole focus has been on preparing for tomorrow.

"It was a really tough time for Australian cricket. I know there's still a lot of people hurting. But now is not the time for me to share my story.

"I respect him [Khawaja] for telling his story and for writing his book. I don't sit here coming from a place of judgement on any of that. Everyone's got their story. Some will be willing to share it, and others might not purely on the basis of the fact that they've moved on. I think it's really important that at some stage we do.

"My honest answer is because I've personally moved on. I respect that others probably haven't, but I have, and I hope that's respected.

"At the end of the day, I think this is my choice not to go back there. Who knows, maybe I'll write a book one day."

But Marsh's claims of 'moving on' are just the appetiser. Australia captain Pat Cummins - who also featured in the 2018 series - has confirmed that he will face the press on Friday. The media scrum is no doubt already adding shine to their questions.