Sandpapergate: Pat Cummins Breaks Silence, Says Usman Khawaja Is Wrong to Claim Whole Team Knew About Sandpaper

Usman Khawaja's autobiography, Sabr, has reopened old wounds over the 2018 ball-tampering scandal on Australia's tour of South Africa.

At the time, then captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were banned from competitive cricket for one year. Cameron Bancroft was also banned.

Australia Test captain Pat Cummins has now had to answer questions on the matter at a press conference. He rejected Khawaja's claim that everyone in the team knew sandpaper was being taken onto the field.

Cummins also accused Khawaja of being casual with players' lives and reputations.

Khawaja's New Claims in His Book

Former Australia player Khawaja has made several new claims in his book.

He claims Australian players used sandpaper during the second Test of the 2018 series against South Africa in Gqeberha. They were caught in the third Test in Cape Town after that.

Khawaja also wrote about how the Australian team changed the condition of the ball by lifting its quarter seam during the 2017-18 Ashes series at home.

‘He’s 100 Per Cent Wrong’, Says Cummins

Speaking at a press conference at Cricket Central in Sydney, Cummins said Khawaja's claim was “100 per cent wrong”. The claim is that everyone, including the bowling quartet of Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, knew sandpaper was being brought onto the field.

Cummins said that when Khawaja says “we all knew”, if he means the team knew sandpaper was going out on the field, then he is wrong. He said he had said this consistently for the last eight years and “I did not know that was happening”.

Cummins said Khawaja, however, says things that are far more serious than that. He said Khawaja claims that he and others were “architects of a scheme to ball tamper with sandpaper”, which he called “complete and utter nonsense”.

‘Friends Aren’t Casual With Each Other’s Lives and Reputations’

Cummins said Khawaja is a friend, but “friends aren’t casual with each other’s lives and reputations”. He said that in his book Khawaja had been casual with his life and the lives of many others, and with Australian cricket.

Cummins added that he fully supports Khawaja's right to tell his story. He said he was glad Khawaja felt he could do so. But he said people must be accountable for what they say and do.

Cummins: Smith, Warner and Bancroft Faced a Lot of Hate

Cummins said such things affect real people and their lives. He said he loves Australian cricket and it has given him a lot. He said it also truly affects Australian cricket.

He said he felt Khawaja had told his story in a very casual way. He said many people are affected by it. Cummins said this was what he was struggling with, because he did not think it was right.

Cummins also denied that the entire bowling group knew at the time about a plan to change the condition of the ball. He said he would not speak about anyone in the team other than Smith, Warner and Bancroft. He said they faced a great deal of hate after the scandal became public and they were banned.

‘I Did Not Know That Was Happening’

Cummins said he could only say that he did not know it was happening. He said he was not sure whether anyone other than those three knew about it, but he did not.

He denied that bowlers could tell just by looking that the ball had been altered. He said that after Bancroft's use of sandpaper came to light, the umpires inspected the ball. Play then continued in the third Test in Cape Town without a five-run penalty on the team.

Cummins said the umpires had also seen the ball at the time and the bowlers did not know it had been altered with sandpaper. He said he thought it was irresponsible to bring the matter up so casually.