![\"Australia](\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/theme\/images\/th-online\/1x1_spacer.png\" "\\"Australia")
<\/picture><\/div>\nAustralia captain Pat Cummins has described as \u201cutter nonsense\u201d claims from ex-teammate Usman Khawaja that he knew about using sandpaper to tamper with a ball in a 2018 cheating scandal that rocked cricket.<\/p>\n
Cummins held an extraordinary news conference Friday (November 13, 2026) to address allegations made in Usman Khawaja’s autobiography, published this week, hours ahead of Australia’s home-season opening one-day international against England in Perth.<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nKhawaja has said he published his account, which the whole team knew about, of the plot to support the three players who received unprecedented, lengthy bans from the sport as a result of the so-called Sandpapergate scandal.<\/p>\n
He’s had support from one of them \u2014 his longtime friend and fellow top-order batter David Warner, who posted on social media that the Cricket Australia investigation at the time was rushed and botched.<\/p>\n
Cummins, who was part of the bowling attack in that test at Cape Town against South Africa, rejected it and accused Khawaja of being \u201ccasual\u201d and \u201cflippant\u201d with his claims.<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cWhen he says we all knew, if by that he means that we knew sandpaper was going out in the field, he\u2019s 100% wrong,\u201d Cummins told a packed news conference in Sydney. \u201cI\u2019ve said that consistently for the last eight years. I did not know that was happening.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s complete and utter nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cummins said he was prepared to answer questions all day if required, because he didn’t want the topic to be dredged up again every time a book was published or another claim made.<\/p>\n
After an hour, a cricket administrator suggested the news conference wind down, but Cummins again invited all questions to continue for as long as needed.<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nSteve Smith and Warner \u2014 the captain and vice-captain in that series eight years ago \u2014 were each banned for 12 months by Cricket Australia following an investigation into the cheating plot.<\/p>\n
Cameron Bancroft, who was caught on TV footage using sandpaper on the ball during the test match, was banned for nine months.<\/p>\n
Cricket Australia, team management and other players have rarely commented on the saga. The bowling group has rejected claims that everyone was in on the plot to use sandpaper to help make the ball \u201creverse\u201d \u2014 or swing unconventionally through the air.<\/p>\n
But in his autobiography, Khawaja said he was sitting beside Bancroft in the locker rooms at one stage and learned of a plot to tamper with the ball and urged caution.<\/p>\n
Cummins on Friday turned the scenario back on Khawaja, who retired from the test team earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was genuinely shocked this week when I found out that Usman admitted that he told Cam to be careful when using sandpaper,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not the Usman that I know. It\u2019s not the Usman that I think has been part of a team that\u2019s helped rebuild the Australian cricket culture over the last eight years,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the one that would have stopped that from happening there and then.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n