Khawaja's Book Claims 'Complete and Utter Nonsense', Says Australia Captain Cummins

Australia captain Pat Cummins has dismissed as 'complete and utter nonsense' the claims made in former teammate Usman Khawaja's autobiography about the 2018 ball-tampering scandal. Khawaja claimed the whole team knew about the plot — Cummins said that claim was '100 percent wrong'.

In his autobiography, published on Tuesday, former Australia batsman Khawaja said last weekend that all the players in the team knew about the plot to rough up the ball with sandpaper to make it swing. His comments triggered calls for a new investigation into the incident.

The scandal centred on the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town, but Khawaja also claimed the tactic was used in the second Test at Port Elizabeth.

Speaking at a news conference in Sydney on Friday, Cummins said: 'When he says we all knew, if by that he means that we knew sandpaper was going out in the field, he's 100 percent wrong. I've said that consistently for the last eight years.'

He added: '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. There was no master plan around using illegal methods. There's no grand plan. There's no team meeting. There's no bowlers saying "this is what must happen".'

Cummins and fellow bowlers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon all denied publicly in a 2021 statement that they were aware of the plan. Darren Lehmann, who was head coach at the time, has also denied any knowledge, while former batting coach Graeme Hick called Khawaja's allegations 'absolutely false'.

Cummins spoke for 68 minutes on Friday, taking every question from the media, and said he would never discuss the ball-tampering incident again.

The Australia skipper also took exception to Pakistan-born Khawaja's contention in the book that the colour of his skin and background had prevented him from becoming Australia captain. 'I think of all the things that I've read this week, I think that's actually the most serious,' Cummins said. 'Him saying that if you're Australian captain, you have to be a certain skin colour, I couldn't disagree with that statement any more.'

Steve Smith and David Warner, the then captain and vice-captain, were banned by Cricket Australia from elite cricket for a year for their roles in the ball-tampering. Opening batter Cameron Bancroft, who brought a piece of sandpaper onto the field, received a nine-month suspension.

Cummins said: 'I was genuinely shocked this week when I found out that Usman admitted that he told Cam to be careful when using sandpaper. That's not the Usman that I know. It's not the Usman that has helped rebuild the Australian cricket culture over the last eight years.'

Later on Friday, Warner said the trio had paid a heavy price for the incident and revealed that his wife Candice had lost a baby in the aftermath of what became known as 'Sandpapergate'. Speaking in TV commentary ahead of a one-day international between Australia and England, the former Test opener said: 'I still stick by Uzzie and what he has written in that book. It is the truth. I actually feel for him at the moment. I actually feel that the captain today threw Uzzie under the bus and I'm very disappointed by that.'

Asked about Khawaja's recollection that two players had rejected his call for the team to take collective responsibility, Cummins said: 'I don't remember any conversation around collective responsibility. So then, I've got no idea who those two people would be because I don't remember ever being asked or having a conversation about it.'

Earlier this week, the head of Cricket Australia ruled out opening another investigation into the 2018 incident. Cummins said he respected Khawaja's right to tell his story in the autobiography but felt some of the allegations were very serious and had to be addressed.

'Usman's a friend, but friends aren't casual with each other's lives and reputations,' he said. 'In his book, Uzzie has been casual with my life and the lives of many others, and I think Australian cricket.' Cummins added, though, that he would not be taking legal action against Khawaja. 'I did get advised this week that some of the things that've been said are probably defamatory, but I won't be doing that,' he said. 'You've got to move on. It's been eight years. We're moving on. So, you got to draw a line at some point.'