Australian Test captain Pat Cummins has responded to discussions surrounding Usman Khawaja’s upcoming book, which is expected to reveal behind-the-scenes details from the infamous Sandpaper gate scandal.
Australian Test captain Pat Cummins breaks his silence on the discussion around Usman Khawaja revealing inside details of the infamous Sandpaper scandal in his upcoming book release. He emphasised that the group has evolved over the past eight to nine years and that his focus is on leading the cricket team.
Sandpapergate is one of Cricket Australia’s lowest points, when players Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft were involved in using sandpaper to shine the ball to their advantage. Smith and Warner received a 12-month ban and were barred from leadership roles, while Bancroft received a 12-month suspension from domestic and international cricket.
Khawaja to share inside story of Sandpapergate, Cummins responds
Speaking at a pre-match press conference, Cummins said that Khawaja had informed him about the book a few weeks earlier and gave him a brief heads-up. The Australian Test captain added that he had no issues with Khawaja telling his story.ย ย
“Uz gave me a buzz a few weeks back that he is releasing a book. He didn’t go into too much detail, just basically gave me the heads-up that he is doing a book and, as always, no worries.
More from Firstcricket“Tell your story. It’s fine. It’s obviously a long time ago, and all the investigations, everything was done back then, and we answered every question a million times. It was dealt with then, and all I can say is that as a group, we have moved on and we are very happy with the last eight to nine years of how we have been as a group and evolved, and obviously my focus is on captaining the cricket team,” Cummins said.
AUS to meet SA after 8 years in Test
Australia will look to bury the past horrors when they face South Africa in an away series. Notably, the two teams will face off against each other for the first time since the Sandpapergate incident.
The three-match Test series between Australia and South Africa will start on October 9, 2026, at Kingsmead, Durban.