'100 per cent wrong, utter nonsense': Pat Cummins hits out at Usman Khawaja over Sandpapergate allegations in no-holds-barred press conference
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'100 per cent wrong, utter nonsense': Pat Cummins hits out at Usman Khawaja over Sandpapergate allegations in no-holds-barred press conference originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Australia Test and ODI captain Pat Cummins has finally responded to Usman Khawaja's allegations about Sandpapergate.
- Cummins has hit out at Khawaja for claiming the bowlers knew about Sandpaper use in Cape Town.
- Cummins stood by the bowlers' statement from 2021.
Cummins finally responds to Khawaja's allegations about Sandpapergate
Australia's Test and ODI captain Pat Cummins has finally addressed the controversy that has rocked Australian cricket in the last one week. It all started after former national team opener Usman Khawaja made explosive claims about the infamous 'Sandpapergate' from 2018 during Australia's tour of South Africa.
In his recently released autobiography, 'Sabr', Khawaja claimed that the entire Australian team from the 2018 South Africa tour was aware of the use of sandpaper in Cape Town and not just the three players who were implicated.
The official line from Cricket Australia since the incident in Cape Town has held that only Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft had knowledge of the plan to use sandpaper on the ball during the third Test against South Africa.
The aim, as understood at the time, was to scuff the surface and help the ball swing in reverse, and the three men were handed bans of up upto 12 months for their roles.
However, Khawaja's claims in his book have brought the incident back into the limelight, as the southpaw said every Australian player knew about it, including the bowlers.
MORE: 'Raises more questions': Johnson calls out Khawaja for dodging questions on Cummins
Pat Cummins hits out at Usman Khawaja over Sandpapergate allegations
Days after Khawaja's revelation that rocked, not just Australian cricket, but the entire cricket world, Cummins has finally decided to address the incident in a no-holds-barred press conference.
On Friday, Cummins addressed the media to clarify his position in the incident, as he said, "When he says we all knew, if by that he means that we knew sandpaper was going out on the field, that is 100% wrong. I've said that consistently for the last eight years, I did not know that was happening."
He added,
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.
Cummins further claimed, "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."
The Aussie skipper then refuted claims that the entire team was aware of the incident as he added, "There was no master plan around using illegal methods. I think that's maybe something that hasn't been spoken about enough. People assume you've gone from very legal methods [to get it 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 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."
MORE: Sandpaper took it to 'next level': ABD admits all teams tried to produce reverse swing
Pat Cummins' statement