SYDNEY (The Thursday Times) — Australia’s Test captain, Pat Cummins, has dismissed as “complete and utter nonsense” Usman Khawaja’s claim that he and other players were behind the 2018 ball-tampering plot, as the row over Sandpapergate reopened on the eve of Australia’s home season.
Cummins called a news conference himself at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday to answer the allegations in Khawaja’s new autobiography, Sabr. He said he was ready to take questions all day so the episode would not be dragged up again with every new book or claim. It lasted more than an hour.
“When he says we all knew, if by that he means that we knew sandpaper was going out in the field, he’s 100 per cent wrong. I’ve said that consistently for the last eight years,” Cummins said. “I did not know that was happening.”
“But Usman actually says things that are actually far more serious than that. He says that I and others were architects of a scheme to ball tamper with sandpaper. That’s complete and utter nonsense.”
‘Casual with my life’
Cummins, who was playing only his 13th Test when the plot unfolded in Cape Town in 2018, said Khawaja had been careless with his former team-mates’ reputations. “Usman’s a friend, but friends aren’t casual with each other’s lives and reputations,” he said. “In his book, Ussie has been casual with my life and the lives of many others, and I think Australian cricket.”
He said he did not intend to take legal action. He also said a video of him and his wife, Becky, in a heated discussion a day earlier had been prompted by her anger at Khawaja’s claims.
Warner backs Khawaja
David Warner, one of the three players banned over the affair, has sided with Khawaja. Speaking on a television commentary panel before Australia’s one-day international against England in Perth, he said Cummins had thrown Khawaja “under the bus”. “I stand by Uzzy and his comments,” Warner said. “For me it’s about accepting the truth, and I just don’t think this will rest.”
Earlier in the week, Warner said Khawaja’s account was “100 per cent accurate”.
Steve Smith and Warner, then captain and vice-captain, were banned for 12 months after the 2018 Test in Cape Town, and Cameron Bancroft, who was caught on camera using sandpaper on the ball, for nine months. The rest of the team and the coaching staff denied knowing about the plan. Cricket Australia has ruled out reopening its investigation.
Khawaja, the Pakistan-born former opener who retired from Test cricket in January, has said he told the story to support the three players he believes were made scapegoats.
