SYDNEY – Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins has strongly rejected allegations made by former teammate Usman Khawaja regarding the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, describing claims that the entire team knew about the plan as completely false and baseless.
In a statement, Pat Cummins said Khawaja’s assertion that the entire Australian team was aware of the incident in 2018 was “100 per cent wrong”, calling it utter nonsense.
He maintained that he had no involvement in any plan to use sandpaper to tamper with the ball and insisted there was no master plan or team meeting to discuss the act.
Cummins said Khawaja was someone who would have intervened and stopped the incident had he known about it. He added that he had no knowledge of sandpaper being used on the field.
The Australian skipper said he was deeply surprised by Khawaja’s allegations, some of which, according to him, could potentially be defamatory. However, he ruled out taking legal action against his former teammate.
Cummins revealed that he had spoken to Khawaja earlier this week but was now reconsidering their relationship, saying he had never expected such remarks from someone he considered a friend.
He also said he did not recall any meeting in which players collectively agreed to accept responsibility for the ball-tampering incident. During the initial investigation, he was questioned by officials and had told them the truth, he added.
While acknowledging that the punishments handed to Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were excessively harsh, Cummins said revisiting an incident that took place eight years ago was affecting the players and their families.
He further argued that Khawaja’s allegations had damaged his reputation and that of several others. Although he considered Khawaja a friend, he said friends should not be careless when it comes to each other’s lives and reputations.
Meanwhile, David Warner, who was among the players punished over the 2018 sandpaper scandal, backed Khawaja’s account and criticised Cummins’ response.
Reacting to the Australian captain’s press conference, Warner said he stood by what Khawaja had written in his book, insisting that the account was truthful.
Warner accused Cummins of deliberately distancing himself from Khawaja, saying the captain appeared to have arrived fully prepared for the press conference and had effectively thrown his former teammate under the bus.
Expressing disappointment over the controversy, Warner said the three players involved had paid a heavy price for the scandal. He added that he had remained silent about the matter for eight years.
