Australia Test captain Pat Cummins has strongly denied Usman Khawaja’s claims about the 2018 sandpaper scandal, describing them as “complete and utter nonsense” and “100% wrong”.
Then Australia captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were penalised for using sandpaper during the team's Test against South Africa in Cape Town in 2018. All three received lengthy suspensions from Cricket Australia following the governing body's investigation into the incident.
In his autobiography, Sabr, released this week, Khawaja alleged that the entire Australian team, including Cummins, knew about the sandpaper plot. He claimed that sandpaper had been used on the ball during the preceding Test and argued that everyone involved should have taken collective responsibility.
'He's 100% wrong'
However, during an extraordinary 68-minute media address in Sydney, Cummins hit back at 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 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 ball tamper with sandpaper. That's complete and utter nonsense."
Cummins, who was appointed Australia's captain in November 2021, criticised Khawaja for being "casual" with the lives and reputations of his former team-mates and Australian cricket as a whole.
"Usman is a friend, but friends aren't casual with each other's lives and reputations," said Cummins. "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."
Cummins was a relatively junior member of the Australian side during the Cape Town Test, which was only his 13th appearance in the format. In 2021, he issued a joint statement alongside fellow fast bowlers Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon, in which they denied knowing that a foreign substance had been taken onto the field to alter the ball and generate reverse swing. The quartet have consistently denied any knowledge of the plot.
While Cummins respected Khawaja's right to tell his story in his autobiography, he felt that some of the allegations were serious enough to warrant a response. "I was genuinely shocked this week when I found out that Usman admitted that he told Cam [Bancroft] to be careful when using sandpaper.
"That's not the Usman that I know. It's not the Usman that I think, or that has been part of a team that's helped rebuild this Australian cricket culture over the last eight years, and you know the Usman that would have stopped that from happening there and then."
No team meeting or 'masterplan'
Cummins, who appeared emotional during the lengthy press conference, said he did not recall anyone suggesting that the team should take collective responsibility for the incident. "I don't remember any conversation around collective responsibility," Cummins said. "I don't remember any team meeting where he stood up and said, 'Let's all own this as a team'. So then, to follow on, no, I've got no idea who those two people would be because I don't remember ever being asked or having a conversation about it.
"I've spoken to quite a few other people, and [they are] exactly the same."
The Australian captain rejected Khawaja's suggestion that there was a wider plan within the team to use illegal methods to generate reverse swing during the 2018 Test series against South Africa. "There was no masterplan around using illegal methods. People assume you've gone from very legal methods to suddenly taking sandpaper, and there must have been some huge masterplan.
"That is not the case. There's no grand plan. There's no team meeting. There's no bowlers saying this is what must happen."
The 33-year-old described the punishments handed out to Smith, Warner and Bancroft following the Cape Town incident as excessive, calling them "way too heavy-handed" and "way over the top."
Explaining why sandpaper could have been present in the dressing room, Cummins said bowlers sometimes used it during training sessions to practise with a reverse-swinging ball. He said balls could occasionally be altered during practice, depending on what bowlers wanted to work on or the kind of delivery batters wanted to face.
He added that training balls could be scuffed in such circumstances using sandpaper or even a Stanley knife. Cummins confirmed that he had spoken to Smith since the release of Khawaja's autobiography but had not been in touch with Warner or Bancroft.
Pat Cummins having a serious conversation with his wife. https://t.co/fHXR5vY1Zj
— SportsGully Cricket 🏏 (@sportsgullycric) November 12, 2026
The Australia captain further revealed that a video showing him and his wife, Becky, in a heated discussion a day earlier had been prompted by her anger over Khawaja's actions. Despite his strong disagreement with Khawaja's claims, Cummins said he had no intention of pursuing legal action.
"I did get advised this week that some of the things that've 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 got to draw a line at some point."
