'Complete and utter nonsense': Pat Cummins denies he knew about ball tampering scandal

Detailed summary

Khawaja claimed in his book that Bancroft to be careful and avoid being scapegoated when the 2018 ball-tampering scandal unfolded in Cape Town. He also alleged there had been ball…

Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins has broken his silence about sandpapergate, rejecting claims by former player Usman Khawaja that the whole team was aware of the 2018 ball-tampering plot.

Speaking to reporters in Sydney on Friday morning, Cummins said: "When [Usman Khawaja] says we all knew, if by that he means that we knew sandpaper was going out in the field, he's 100 per cent wrong."

"I have said that consistently for the last eight years. I did not know that was happening, but I think Usman actually says things that are actually far more serious than that."

The scandal resurfaced this week after Khawaja, who retired from international cricket in January, claimed in his new autobiography, Sabr, that the entire team knew about ball tampering during the third Test match against South Africa in Cape Town in 2018.

He also alleged there had been ball tampering during an earlier match.

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A Cricket Australia investigation at the time found Cameron Bancroft, who was filmed placing sandpaper down his cricket pants on the field, Steve Smith and David Warner were the only ones involved in the ball-tampering and it was a one-off incident. The trio were subsequently suspended and fined.

Cummins said Khawaja was a friend but "friends aren't casual with each other's lives and reputations".

"In his book, Uzzie's been casual with my life and the lives of many others, and I think Australian cricket. I support his right to tell his story 100 per cent," he said.

Opening of the article, excerpted from SBS News. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.