Pat Cummins denies Usman Khawaja's sandpaper scandal claims

Pat Cummins denies sandpaper claims

Australia captain Pat Cummins calls Usman Khawaja's 2018 sandpaper scandal claims 'complete and utter nonsense'.

“complete and utter nonsense”

Khawaja's autobiography claims

Former Australia opener Usman Khawaja claims everyone in the team knew about the sandpaper plan in his 2026 autobiography.

“everyone in the team knew”

2018 sandpaper scandal

The incident occurred during Australia's Test match against South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town in March 2018.

Players banned for ball tampering

Steve Smith and David Warner received one-year bans from elite cricket, Cameron Bancroft received a nine-month suspension.

Cummins' response to Khawaja

Cummins says he did not know about sandpaper use but claims Khawaja made more serious allegations than that.

“he says that I and others were architects of a scheme to ball tamper with sandpaper”

Cummins on Khawaja's claims

Cummins states he was shocked by Khawaja's claim that he told Cameron Bancroft to be careful with sandpaper.

“I was genuinely shocked this week when I found out that Usman admitted that he told Cam to be careful when using sandpaper”

Cummins on friendship

Cummins says friends aren't casual with each other's lives and reputations, criticizing Khawaja's autobiography.

“friends aren't casual with each other's lives and reputations”

Cummins on collective responsibility

Cummins denies remembering any discussion about collective responsibility for the ball-tampering incident.

“I don't remember any conversation around collective responsibility”

Cummins rules out legal action

Cummins says he won't take legal action against Khawaja despite defamatory claims.

“I won't be doing that”

Cummins on moving on

Cummins states it's time to move on from the controversy after eight years.

“You've got to move on. It's been eight years. We're moving on”