MELBOURNE (The Thursday Times) — Pakistan pace great Wasim Akram has questioned Australia captain Pat Cummins’ claim that he did not know sandpaper was used on the ball in the 2018 Cape Town Test, saying any experienced bowler would have spotted the damage straight away.
In a video posted on social media from Melbourne on Saturday, Wasim said the marks sandpaper leaves on a ball look nothing like the wear it picks up from the pitch. “As a bowler, I’ll have a look at the ball and know straight away something is not right,” he said.
“He said he didn’t know. As a bowler, when the cricket ball comes into my hand, whether it’s the fifth over, the tenth over or the fiftieth over, you look after the ball, you shine one side of the ball,” Wasim said. “But the sandpaper scratch is totally different than the one-bounce scratch.”
Anyone could test it, he suggested, by rubbing sandpaper on a semi-new ball and comparing the marks.
Wasim, one of the great masters of reverse swing, called Cummins “a very close friend” and said he was not taking sides. But he said the row had raised wider questions about Australia’s image. “Australians are famous for their straightforwardness, their hardness on the field and off the field, and most importantly honesty. I think that’s why the whole nation has been under stress a bit,” he said. “I hope things get sorted out, but this is my take.”
The scandal flared up again after former Australia opener Usman Khawaja wrote in his autobiography, Sabr, that knowledge of the ball-tampering plan was widespread in the dressing room, including among the bowlers. Khawaja has refused to name names, and Cricket Australia has ruled out reopening its investigation.
At a long press conference in Sydney on Friday, Cummins called the allegations “100 per cent wrong” and “complete and utter nonsense”. He said he had no idea sandpaper had been taken onto the field and denied being one of the architects of the plan.
Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera using sandpaper on the ball during the third Test against South Africa at Newlands in March 2018. Captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were banned for a year, Bancroft was banned for nine months, and Cricket Australia ordered a wider review of the team’s culture.
