‘Not the Uzzie I know’: Cummins hits out at Khawaja’s ‘utter nonsense’ sandpaper claims in explosive press conference

Pat Cummins, Australia’s Test and ODI captain, on Friday hit out at Usman Khawaja, saying the latter’s allegation that the entire team knew about the use of sandpaper in the 2018 Cape Town Test is completely wrong and “utter nonsense.”

The speedster addressed the matter and offered his version of events, fronting up to the media at Cricket Central in Sydney to respond to the allegations made by the former Australian opener in his autobiography, titled *Sabr*.

Cummins further stated that he was shocked by some of the revelations in Khawaja’s book. The press conference lasted more than an hour, with Cummins making it clear that he was willing to answer questions until the journalists had exhausted them, hoping to put the controversy behind him once and for all.

“When he says we all knew, if by that he means that we knew sandpaper was going out on the field, is 100% wrong. I’ve said that consistently for the last eight years, I did not know that was happening,” Cummins told reporters.

“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 tamper the ball 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,” 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 tamper the ball 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,” he added.

Cummins also lashed out at Khawaja for being “casual” with the lives of several Australian cricketers through his allegations of ball tampering in his book.

“That’s not the Uzzie 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,” said Cummins.

“In his book, Uzzie 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,” he added.

Cummins also claimed that the team was unaware of any “master plan” behind the ploy to use illegal methods to generate more reverse swing during the Test series against South Africa. He further maintained that the bowlers were never involved in the plan and had no knowledge of it.

“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 suddenly taking sandpaper, and there must have been some huge master plan,” he said.

“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,” he added.

The Australian captain further stated that the only instance of ball tampering he had witnessed during his professional career involved a New South Wales teammate using a bottle cap during a Sheffield Shield match. However, he refrained from revealing the match in question or naming the player involved.

“He was a batter. 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,” Cummins said.

Earlier this week, David Warner, Australia’s vice-captain at the time, had backed Khawaja’s version of events, describing it as “100 per cent accurate.” The controversy took another turn after Khawaja reportedly pulled out of several interviews following a contentious appearance on the ABC’s 7.30 show, where he declined to clarify what Cummins knew about the use of sandpaper.

Cummins also expressed sympathy for Cameron Bancroft, Warner and Steve Smith, saying the punishments handed to the trio were “way too heavy-handed”. However, he added that he hadn’t spoken to either Warner or Bancroft since the release of Khawaja’s autobiography.

When it comes to Smith, Cummins said that he was on the same page as his teammate. He also addressed suggestions that he was disappointed with Smith’s withdrawal from the recent third and final Test against South Africa, which Australia lost.

“I’ve spoken to Steve a few times since. 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 the Shield game soon. We’re in a really good place. I think there was some commentary, unfair commentary around Steve in that last week. Perhaps I could have done a better job of trying to soften that a bit,” said Cummins.

“I think I probably got a little bit misconstrued how there definitely was a level of disappointment in a such a big game that we were missing one of our great players. But no, 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 him as vice-captain. So all very aligned,” he added.

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