Australian Test captain Pat Cummins has hit back at Usman Khawaja’s sandpaper claims. The former Australian opener revealed that all Australian players and support staff knew they were tampering with the ball during the controversial 2018 Cape Town Test against South Africa.
Cameron Bancroft, who was caught on camera, captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were punished severely by Cricket Australia after the Test match.
Warner backed Khawaja’s claims and said they were 100% accurate but Cummins said the allegations were 100% wrong in the press conference.
“When he says ‘We all knew’, if by that he means that we knew sandpaper was going out in the field, he’s 100 per cent wrong,” Cummins said. “I’ve said that consistently for the last eight years. I did not know that was happening.
“But I think Usman actually says things that are actually far more serious than that. He says that I and others were architects of a scheme to ball tamper with sandpaper. That’s complete and utter nonsense.”
Cummins slammed Khawaja for being casual with the lives of Australian cricketers in his book, Sabr, and said this is not what friends do.
“I was genuinely shocked this week when I found out that Usman admitted that he told Cam [Cameron Bancroft] to be careful when using sandpaper (in Cape Town). That’s not the Usman that I know. It’s not the Usman that has been part of a team that’s helped rebuild the Australian cricket culture over the last eight years. The Usman that would have stopped that from happening there and then.
“Usman’s a friend, but friends aren’t casual with each other’s lives and reputations. In his book, Uzzy has been casual with my life, and the lives of many others, and I think Australian cricket…This really affects Australian cricket. The way that he’s presented his story. I think he’s done that in a very casual manner, and it affects a lot of people. That’s what I’m grappling with at the moment because I don’t think it’s okay.
“… Usman is a friend, but I think the way he’s kind of been quite casual and flippant with people’s lives in Australian cricket, I don’t think that’s okay, and I don’t think that’s what friends do.”
Khawaja’s claims have once again scratched Australian cricket’s eight-year-old wounds.
