Pat Cummins rejects Khawaja's sandpaper claims and rules out legal action

Australia captain Pat Cummins has rejected Usman Khawaja's allegations that the entire team knew about the sandpaper plot behind the 2018 Cape Town ball-tampering scandal. According to BBC Sport's Stephan Shemilt, Cummins used a media conference in Sydney to deny prior knowledge of the scheme and said he would not take legal action over claims in his former team-mate's new autobiography.

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The dispute concerns the Test against South Africa in which Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were punished for a plan to alter the ball with sandpaper. Smith and Warner received one-year bans, while Bancroft was suspended for nine months. Khawaja's book, Sabr, alleges that knowledge of the scheme extended across the team and argues that responsibility should have been shared. Cummins denied that he or the other bowlers had organised it.

Cummins arranged the media conference himself and answered questions for one hour and eight minutes, BBC Sport reported. He said he had maintained the same position for eight years: he did not know sandpaper would be taken on to the field. Although he still regarded Khawaja as a friend and supported his right to tell his story, Cummins said the allegations had affected his reputation and those of others in Australian cricket.

Khawaja also alleged that a coach had urged Australia to find ways to make the ball swing, that Bancroft was subsequently encouraged to cheat, and that two unnamed players rejected a request for collective responsibility. Cummins said he could not recall either that request or its rejection. He denied that there had been a team meeting or an agreed plan to use illegal methods. Those competing accounts remain in dispute.

The response to the book has divided former members of the touring party. BBC Sport reported that Warner and seam bowler Chadd Sayers had supported Khawaja, while former coaches Darren Lehmann and Graeme Hick, along with Mitchell Starc, rejected his allegations. Cummins, Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon have previously denied knowing about the plot, including in a joint statement issued in 2021.

Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg has said the original investigation will not be reopened, despite criticism from Khawaja and Warner. Cummins confirmed that he had met Greenberg and said the executive had reviewed the investigation files following the book's publication. According to Cummins, that review found the accounts consistent. He also said he considered the original suspensions too severe, while maintaining his denial of involvement in the scheme.