Australia captain Pat Cummins has dismissed as “complete and utter nonsense” claims made by teammate Usman Khawaja about the 2018 ball-tampering scandal known as sandpapergate. The controversy, which rocked international cricket, involved Cameron Bancroft using sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball during a test match in South Africa.
Khawaja’s recent book includes allegations that suggest broader knowledge and involvement within the Australian dressing room than previously acknowledged. Cummins responded to these accusations with a clear rejection in an interview this week.
“There’s a very proper way to do things and improve,” Cummins said. “I think that investigation was a proper way to do it.” He referenced the Cricket Australia (CA) inquiry that followed the incident, which questioned players and officials soon after the event. “Everyone was asked in the circumstances about a game very quickly after. So that’s for CA. I think you can maybe argue whether the judgements were fair, but what can you do? I got asked all the questions, answered them all fairly.”
Cummins insisted that Khawaja’s version of events was wrong. “That’s my story, so I think he’s wrong.” He pointed to the importance of details when discussing the differences in accounts. “Perhaps there was conversations with Cameron Bancroft around taking sandpaper out and how to do it. That doesn’t mean that everyone in that dressing room knew what was going on.”
The ball-tampering incident occurred during the third test match between Australia and South Africa in Cape Town in March 2018. Bancroft was caught on camera attempting to rough up the ball with sandpaper. The fallout led to bans for Bancroft, then-captain Steve Smith, and vice-captain David Warner.
Khawaja’s recent comments have reignited debate over how the scandal was handled internally and whether the full extent of the knowledge and involvement was properly disclosed. Cummins, who was not part of the leadership group at the time, appears to reject any suggestion that the wider squad was complicit.
The Cricket Australia investigation, which Cummins refers to, was conducted swiftly after the incident. It involved interviews with players and staff, and resulted in sanctions and an overhaul of the team’s culture under new leadership.
Cummins’s remarks come as the team prepares for the upcoming international schedule, with the captain keen to move past historical controversies. His focus remains on the current squad’s performance and standards.
The dispute over Khawaja’s account and Cummins’s rebuttal underlines ongoing tensions about the legacy of sandpapergate within Australian cricket. The details of what was known and who was involved continue to provoke debate among players and fans alike.
According to The Guardian.
