Pat Cummins has hit back at Usman Khawaja over his explosive revelations about Australia’s 2018 Sandpapergate scandal, dismissing allegations that senior players were involved in planning the ball-tampering controversy as ‘complete and utter nonsense’.
Australian Test skipper Pat Cummins has criticised Usman Khawaja for the scandalous revelations he made on the 2018 Sandpapergate and called his claims ‘complete and utter nonsense.’
On Friday, Cummins hosted an open press conference addressing Khawaja’s explosive claims over the ball tampering scandal in his autobiography Sabr, where he dedicated a chapter to the controversy where three Australian cricketers — Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft — were handed heavy sanctions.
Khawaja claimed that the Aussie cricketers used sandpaper during the second Test of the 2018 series in Gqeberha and that the entire team was aware of the use of sandpaper and the responsibility was not only on the sanctioned players, but everyone.
Cummins calls out Khawaja
Speaking at the media presser at Sydney’s Cricket Central, Cummins strongly denied knowing about the use of sandpaper during the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, insisting that Khawaja’s claims were incorrect.
He also rejected allegations that he and other players were involved in planning the ball-tampering scheme, calling them completely baseless.
“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. I’ve said that consistently for the last eight years; I did not know that was happening.
More from Firstcricket“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,” Cummins said.
Cummins added that he had received advice that some of Khawaja’s comments could be defamatory but ruled out taking legal action. He also urged everyone to move on rather than keep revisiting the issue as the controversy was eight years old.
AUS skipper also breaks silence on the viral video
Cummins also addressed the controversy over a viral video in which the cricketer’s wife Becky was seen having an apparent argument with him. The Aussie Test captain confirmed that it was not a spat and believes it was ‘a bit ridiculous’ to have his private life made public.
“While we are on the topic, because we think it was funny – we were not having a spat. Becky was very frustrated and animated and really unhappy with Usman,” Cummins added.
Cummins also accused Usman of being dismissive of the impact his comments could have on people’s lives and Australian cricket.