Australia captain Pat Cummins has strongly rejected Usman Khawaja‘s claims that the entire Australian team knew about the use of sandpaper during the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.Cummins addressed the allegations during a 68-minute press conference at Cricket Central in Sydney. He called Khawaja’s claims “100% wrong” and “complete and utter nonsense”.Khawaja, in his recently published autobiography, alleged that the entire Australia XI knew about the use of sandpaper in the Cape Town Test. He also claimed that two players had refused to take collective responsibility for the incident.Cummins responded to several allegations, spoke about the 2018 investigation, his relationship with Khawaja, the punishments handed to Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, and his current relationship with Smith.
Key points from Pat Cummins’ press conference
Did the entire Australian team know about the sandpaper?Cummins strongly denied Khawaja’s claim that all 11 players knew sandpaper was being used to tamper with the ball during the Cape Town Test in 2018.“When he says we all knew, if by that he means that we knew sandpaper was going out on the field, he’s 100% wrong,” Cummins said. “I’ve said that consistently for the last eight years, I did not know that was happening.“But 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. That’s complete and utter nonsense. 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. Usman’s a friend, but friends aren’t casual with each other’s lives and reputations.“In his book, Ussie has been casual with my life and the lives of many others, and I think Australian cricket.“I support his right to tell a story 100%. I’m really glad that he feels like he can, but we have to be accountable for the things that we say and do.” Was there a master-plan to tamper with the ball?Cummins admitted that the Australian team had a win-at-all-costs mentality in 2018. He also spoke about an “ugly underbelly” and too many groups within the team. However, he rejected the suggestion that there was a planned effort to use illegal methods to make the ball reverse.“There was no master-plan around using illegal methods,” Cummins said. “I think that’s maybe something that hasn’t been spoken about enough. People assume you’ve gone from very legal methods [to get the ball to reverse] to suddenly taking sandpaper, and there must have been some huge master-plan.“The truth, that is not the case.“That’s one of the reasons why I really want to talk through [it], because context and details matter around this. There’s no grand plan. There’s no team meeting. There’s no bowlers saying this is what must happen. I think there’s natural progressions that get you there.”Did Cummins know about sandpaper being used before the Port Elizabeth Test?Khawaja also alleged that sandpaper had been used on the ball near the boundary before the start of a session during the Port Elizabeth Test, now known as Gqeberha. That match took place before the Cape Town Test.Cummins said this was new information for him and that he was surprised by the claim.“That was news to me this week,” Cummins said. “I had no idea. Even chatting a couple of guys, that was a revelation to us. That was one of the things that really surprised me because that doesn’t happen anymore.“The umpires give the ball out to you in the middle, so I don’t remember that. I remember growing up, used to watch for the umpire dropping the ball, but I genuinely don’t remember that being the case. I don’t know where that stopped. So that was a revelation to me this week.”Had Cummins ever seen ball-tampering during his career?Cummins said the only time he had seen someone use an illegal object to change the condition of the ball was early in his career in a Sheffield Shield match.He recalled a senior New South Wales batter using a bottle cap on the ball. However, he refused to reveal the player’s name or the match.“He was a batter,” Cummins said. “He was a senior player, I won’t mention him, but he took a bottle cap out in the field, and that was the one time I’ve seen on the field. I was looking at it going, ‘Wow, that’s not okay.’ It was dealt with. The umpires knew it as well. They called him out and said, ‘You’ve got to stop that right now.’ He was dealt with. That’s the only time I’ve seen something illegal out there.”Did two players refuse to take collective responsibility?Khawaja claimed that he had asked the Australian team to take collective responsibility for the ball-tampering incident in Cape Town. He also alleged that two players had refused to support his suggestion.Cummins said he did not remember any such discussion or team meeting.“First part, 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. Trying to piece it all together, no one remembers a team meeting where someone stood up and said, ‘We got to all own this.'”Was Cummins interviewed during the original investigation?Cummins confirmed that he was interviewed as part of Cricket Australia’s investigation into the Cape Town incident.The investigation was conducted by Cricket Australia’s then-head of integrity Iain Roy and High Performance manager Pat Howard.Cummins said the bowlers were among those specifically asked to take part. He added that other players were also given an opportunity to share information.“I got asked to be part of that review,” Cummins said. “There were some people that got specifically asked. I think it was the bowlers, and I can’t really remember who else. And then I remember specifically a couple of times [them] saying, ‘If anyone else has different accounts, or anyone else has information they’d like to share, please come forward and do that.’ I did my interview. I was totally truthful. I’ve been very consistent since then at that event till now. Nothing’s changed.”Why was Khawaja not interviewed in the investigation?Khawaja alleged in his book that he was not interviewed during the original investigation, despite sitting next to Bancroft in the Cape Town dressing room.Cummins said he had spoken to Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg before the press conference to confirm his recollection of the investigation.“I actually even spoke to Todd today,” Cummins said. “He’s like, ‘I’ve read all the investigations. Guys have been very, very consistent this whole time.'”Should Cricket Australia reopen the investigation?Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg had said earlier in the week that the governing body would not reopen the investigation.When asked whether the investigation should be conducted again, Cummins said the decision was up to Cricket Australia.“That’s up to CA,” Cummins said. “Part of why I think this is still lingering after eight years is there’s a lot of context around this, which is hard to explain and hard to articulate, and that’s what I want to do today. But there’s a very proper way to do things and an improper [way], and I think that investigation was the proper way to do it. Everyone was asked in the circumstances, with a game very quickly after, so yeah, that’s for CA. I think you could maybe argue whether the judgments were fair, but what can you do? I got asked all the questions, and answered them all fairly.”Has Cummins spoken to Khawaja? Will he take legal action?Cummins confirmed that he had spoken to Khawaja during the week but did not reveal what they discussed.He admitted that he was still trying to understand how the allegations would affect their long-standing friendship.Cummins also said he had been advised that some of Khawaja’s claims were “probably defamatory”. However, he ruled out taking legal action.“You’ve got to move on,” he said. “It’s been eight years … You got to draw the line at some point. I won’t be doing that.”Why does Cummins feel Khawaja’s claims are irresponsible?Cummins spoke about his long friendship with Khawaja, who has been part of his cricket journey for 15 years.However, he said the allegations were serious because they affected the lives and reputations of several people and their families.“I’ve played 15 years, my debut for New South Wales and with Australia, Usman was right there, and he’s been awesome to me, and he’s a friend,” Cummins said. “But this is people’s real lives, and this is serious. I saw [my wife] Becky on the news yesterday. Like this affects not only people but people’s families, and I’m one of the lesser ones. Maybe this week I’m right there. But talking eight years ago, like it was traumatic for those guys, for all of us, for Australian cricket, for fans. So to bring it up so flippantly and casually, I think it’s irresponsible. So yeah, they’re all things I’m grappling with at the moment.”Were the punishments handed to Smith, Warner and Bancroft too harsh?Cummins made his position clear on the punishments given to Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft following the 2018 ball-tampering scandal.He believed the bans handed to the three players were too severe.Cummins also said he had not spoken to Warner or Bancroft since Khawaja’s book was released. However, he said he had no issues with Bancroft, despite the batter’s 2021 interview with The Guardian, in which he claimed it was “self-explanatory” that the bowling group knew about the sandpaper.Cummins said the punishments were “way too heavy-handed” and “way over the top.”What is Cummins’ relationship with Steve Smith now?Cummins confirmed that he had spoken to Smith several times since the recent controversy.Smith had withdrawn from the third Test in South Africa due to a neck injury. There had also been suggestions of frustration within the Australian camp following his withdrawal.Cummins said their relationship was in a good place and that they were on the same page.“I’ve spoken to Steve a few times since,” Cummins said. “He’s good. He’s saying his neck is feeling better. I think he gets into Australia very soon, and I think he is due to play a Shield game soon.“We’re in a really good place. I think there was some unfair commentary around Steve in that last week. Perhaps I could have done a better job of trying to to soften that a bit. I think it probably got a little bit misconstrued how there was a level of disappointment in a such a big game that we were missing one of our great players. But no, we’re very aligned going ahead. Very excited. He’s very excited for the next 12 months. We’ll need him. I’ll need him, as captain, alongside me as vice-captain. So all very aligned.”