Cummins to respond to Khawaja's Sandpapergate claims as Cricket Australia backs captain

Australia captain Pat Cummins has said he will respond to Usman Khawaja's allegations about the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, but has taken some time to fully understand the claims.

Retired batter Usman Khawaja brought the eight-year-old controversy back into focus before publishing his autobiography last week. Since then, pressure has grown on Cummins to face the media.

In the book, Khawaja alleged that the whole team knew about the plan to use sandpaper on the ball to generate swing during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town in 2018. He claimed captain Cummins was also aware of it.

Khawaja also claimed the same tactic had been used in the second Test in Port Elizabeth.

However, Cricket Australia's investigation had said only David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft knew about the plan. All three were sent home in disgrace and later banned.

In 2021, Cummins and fellow bowlers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon publicly stated they knew nothing about the plan.

Cummins said he will present his position on Friday, before the next round of the domestic Sheffield Shield. On social media, he said he is ready to speak to any media outlet about this week's events, and that he took some time to understand the long list of Khawaja's allegations and their full scope so he could respond properly.

Starc also restated his position on Wednesday. He told reporters he did not want to speak for other bowlers, but his own view had not changed and his memory of what they said in 2021 had not changed either. In his words, they did not know what was happening on the field.

Starc added that, as stated in their statement, they were not aware anything was being done to the ball on the field. Smith and Bancroft have so far remained silent on the matter.

Cricket Australia chairman David Boon assured that Cummins' job is safe. Boon told The Australian newspaper that they fully support Pat.

Boon also said the team should move forward rather than dwell on the past. He said he respects Usman's perspective and his memories of events at the time, which are his own memories, but they do not want to get into a he-said, she-said style debate.