Pat Cummins rejects Khawaja's sandpaper claims as investigation stays closed

Australia captain Pat Cummins has denied Usman Khawaja's allegations that the whole team knew about the sandpaper plot during the 2018 Cape Town Test, while Cricket Australia has ruled out reopening its investigation. BBC reporting on Friday described a renewed dispute between former team-mates following the publication of Khawaja's autobiography.

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At a news conference in Sydney lasting 68 minutes, Cummins said he had not known sandpaper would be taken onto the field. According to BBC Sport, he also rejected the suggestion that he and other players had devised the scheme. He said he did not recall Khawaja proposing that the entire team accept responsibility, or that such a proposal had been rejected.

Cummins said he had received advice that some claims were defamatory but would not pursue legal action. He had contacted Khawaja and Steve Smith since the book's publication, but not David Warner. BBC Sport also reported that Cummins had met Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg, who had reviewed the original investigation files and found the accounts consistent, according to the captain.

The dispute concerns Australia's Test against South Africa in Cape Town, when Cameron Bancroft was caught with sandpaper on the field. Smith, Warner and Bancroft received lengthy suspensions. In its separate report on the renewed controversy, BBC News said Khawaja's memoir described his wish for the team to take collective responsibility rather than leave the consequences with those three players.

Khawaja has since said he did not want to trigger a hunt for individuals and has declined to specify exactly who he alleges knew about the scheme or what they knew, BBC News reported. Warner has supported Khawaja's account and criticised Cummins' response. Smith, who had been travelling overseas, had not publicly addressed the book's claims at the time of that report.

Greenberg has already rejected calls for a new inquiry, according to BBC News. Cummins said any decision on reopening the investigation belonged to Cricket Australia. His public denial does not resolve the conflicting accounts, and Khawaja's allegation remains disputed.