Australia captain Pat Cummins has hit back at former team-mate Usman Khawaja’s claims over the sandpaper scandal, calling them “100% wrong” and “utter nonsense”.
In 2018, Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were punished for a plot to tamper with the ball using sandpaper in Australia’s Test against South Africa in Cape Town.
Khawaja has published his autobiography this week and the former batter has said the entire Australia team, which included Cummins, knew about the sandpaper scheme and should have taken responsibility.
But in an extraordinary 68-minute address to the media in Sydney, Cummins countered and said: “When he says we all knew, if by that he means we knew sandpaper was going out on the field, he’s 100% wrong.
“I said that consistently for the last eight years. I did not know that was happening.
“He says that I and others were architects of a scheme to ball tamper with sandpaper. That’s complete and utter nonsense.”
Cummins and Khawaja played 56 Tests together until Khawaja retired from international cricket in January.
Khawaja was in the Australia XI when Cummins made his Test debut in 2011 and the pair were also once team-mates in domestic cricket with New South Wales.
“Usman is a friend, but friends aren’t casual with each other’s lives and reputations,” said Cummins.
“In his book he’s been casual with my life and the lives of many others – and, I think, Australian cricket.
“I support him to tell his story, 100%, I’m glad he feels like he can, but we have to be accountable for the things that we say and do.”
In a media conference he arranged himself, Cummins began by promising to answer all questions because, he said: “I don’t want to talk about this again after today.”
At times emotional, Cummins addressed a wide range of topics, including:
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Advice that some of Khawaja’s claims are defamatory, but he will not take legal action
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He had been in contact with Khawaja and Smith since the book was published, but not Warner
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His belief that the one-year bans handed to Smith and Warner, and a nine-month suspension to Bancroft were “heavy handed”
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He had no recollection of Australia tampering with the ball in the 2017-18 Ashes series against England
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He had met with Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg, who has reviewed the files from the original investigation
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Explaining why sandpaper would have been present in the dressing room and that it was sometimes used by bowlers in training in order to practise with a reverse-swinging ball
Khawaja’s allegations have reopened the debate about the sandpaper plot, the investigation into the cheating, the culture of Australian cricket and the reputations of those involved.
The story has dominated the media in Australia and caused headlines around the cricketing world.
Khawaja has been supported by Warner and Chadd Sayers, a seam bowler who was part of the Australia squad on the 2018 tour of South Africa.
However, his allegations have been rejected by Darren Lehmann, who was then the Australia head coach and former England batter Graeme Hick, one of Lehmann’s assistants. Mitchell Starc, another bowler on the tour, has also denied Khawaja’s claims.
Khawaja has put a spotlight on Cummins and his fellow bowlers Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon. The four were Australia’s attack in Cape Town and remain their first-choice bowlers eight years later.
The quartet have always denied any knowledge of the plot, including in the release of a joint-statement in 2021.
In his book – Sabr – Khawaja alleged Australia were urged to find ways of getting the ball to swing by a coach, while Bancroft was later encouraged to cheat.
Khawaja also said he asked for the entire team to take responsibility for the controversy in Cape Town, but his request was rejected by two unnamed players.
Cummins said he does not recall any suggestion that the team should have shared the responsibility, or that it was rejected.
On the idea that the whole team were aligned in a plot to tamper with the ball, he said: “There was no masterplan around using illegal methods. People assume you’ve gone from very legal methods to suddenly taking sandpaper, and there must have been some huge masterplan.
“That is not the case. There’s no grand plan. There’s no team meeting. There’s no bowlers saying this is what must happen.”
“There’s big leaps where Usman is being vague.”