Australia captain Pat Cummins has called the allegations made by former Australian batsman Usman Khawaja about the sandpaper scandal "100% wrong" and "utter nonsense". Cummins, who called a press conference after Khawaja’s autobiography came out, said he had consistently, for the last eight years, stated that “he did not know that was happening.”
Khawaja blew open the 2018 sandpaper scandal—which saw Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft being punished for a plot to tamper with the ball using sandpaper in Australia's Test against South Africa in Cape Town—during the release of his autobiography, Sabr, this week. The former batsman claimed that all staff and players knew that the Australian team was using sandpaper to tamper with the ball. Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft were banned after 'Sandpapergate', with Cricket Australia asserting only that trio were privy to the plot.
Khawaja, who retired this year after 88 Tests, told the Sydney Morning Herald that everyone had prior knowledge. "It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us," he said.
However, Cummins called a 68-minute press conference in Sydney to counter the allegations. “When he says we all knew, if by that he means we knew sandpaper was going out on the field, he's 100% wrong. I've said that consistently for the last eight years. I did not know that was happening. He says that I and others were architects of a scheme to tamper with the ball using sandpaper. That's complete and utter nonsense," the skipper said.
“There was no master plan around using illegal methods," he added. "There's no grand plan. There's no team meeting. There's no bowlers saying 'this is what must happen'."
Cummins added: “There are quite a few different accounts here, so they've got two accounts. There are 11 players in that room, so that means there are nine other guys who I think it's appropriate you give an equal amount of weight to their story as well."
Khawaja’s allegations triggered calls for a fresh probe into the incident. While David Warner said that Khawaja's version of events was "100 per cent accurate", Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg said there wouldn’t be any investigation into the incident.
Cummins and Khawaja played 56 Tests together, and the latter was in the Australia XI when Cummins made his Test debut in 2011. They also played domestic cricket together with New South Wales.
Cummins said Khawaja is a friend, but the latter should have avoided being “casual” with others’ lives. “Usman is a friend, but friends aren't casual with each other's lives and reputations. In his book, he's been casual with my life and the lives of many others—and, I think, Australian cricket. I support him to tell his story, 100%. I'm glad he feels like he can, but we have to be accountable for the things that we say and do," said an emotional Cummins.
Cummins promised to answer all questions but reiterated that he did not want to talk about this again after today.
He also hit back at 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," he 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," he added.
He added that he, however, would not be taking legal action against Khawaja over the allegations in the book. "I did get advised this week that some of the things that have been said are probably defamatory, but I won't be doing that," Cummins said. "You've got to move on. It's been eight years. We're moving on. So you've got to draw a line at some point."
