Photo: Collected
Australia captain Pat Cummins has called Usman Khawaja’s claim that the whole team knew about ‘Sandpapergate’ 100 percent wrong. Following Cummins’s remarks, David Warner has alleged that Khawaja has been ‘thrown under the bus’.
The retired Khawaja’s autobiography was published this week. It contains a chapter on the 2018 ball-tampering incident in South Africa. His account of that incident, which shook world cricket, has reopened old wounds.
Khawaja alleges that the plan to rub the surface of the ball with sandpaper to increase swing was known to the whole team, including Cummins. Although the scandal began around the third Test of the series in Cape Town, he claims in the book that the same tactic had also been used in the second Test in Port Elizabeth.
Cricket Australia’s investigation, however, had said that only Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft knew about it. After the incident, all three were sent home in disgrace and later banned.
After Smith was removed from the captaincy, Tim Paine took charge; Cummins later replaced him.
At a press conference lasting more than an hour, Cummins said, ‘When he says we all knew, if that means we knew about sandpaper being taken onto the field, then he is 100 percent wrong.’
He added, ‘I have been saying the same thing for the last eight years. I did not know anything like this was happening.’ He also said, ‘But I think Usman has made a far more serious allegation. He has said that I and others were behind the plan to tamper with the ball using sandpaper. That is completely baseless and bizarre.’
In a statement in 2021, Cummins and his fellow bowlers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon publicly said they knew nothing of the plan.
Warner has strongly backed Khawaja’s new account and sharply criticised Cummins’s latest response. Speaking in television commentary before Australia’s ODI against England, he said, ‘Pat Cummins came very well prepared this morning. But I still stand by Uzzy (Khawaja) and support what he has written in his book.’
In Warner’s words, ‘That is the truth. I support him fully.’ He also said, ‘I felt the captain threw Uzzy under the bus today. I am very disappointed by that.’ He also said he would keep speaking about the matter until the truth comes out.
Darren Lehmann, the head coach at the time, has also denied knowing anything. Former batting coach Graeme Hick called Khawaja’s allegation ‘completely false’. Starc stuck to his earlier position this week, saying, ‘We were not aware that anything was being taken onto the field.’
Lyon and Hazlewood, however, have remained silent. Smith and Bancroft have also made no comment.
Cummins called Khawaja’s conduct ‘irresponsible’ for making such explosive allegations after eight years. He said, ‘Usman is my friend. But friends do not talk lightly about each other’s lives and reputations.’
Cummins further said, ‘In his book he has treated my life, the lives of many others and Australian cricket lightly. I think he has also taken it very lightly in putting forward his own account. Yet many people are being affected by it.’
In interviews with various media outlets this week, Khawaja said that after the Cape Town Test he had asked the whole team in the dressing room to take collective responsibility. He had opposed making Warner, Smith and Bancroft scapegoats by blaming them alone.
Cummins, however, cannot recall anything of the sort. He said, ‘I do not remember any discussion about taking collective responsibility. Nor do I recall any team meeting where he stood up and said, “As a team, we should own up.”‘
Cricket Australia has ruled out the possibility of reopening the investigation. On Thursday, its chairman David Boon assured Cummins that he had nothing to worry about regarding the captaincy.
Cummins has accepted that around 2018 there was a win-at-all-costs mentality in the culture of the Australian team. In his view, it culminated in the Cape Town incident. But he believes the team’s culture has undergone a ‘remarkable change’ since then.
Cummins said, ‘I did not like the way we used to speak to umpires and opponents. As a young player I saw some arrogance and at times ugly behaviour in the team, which was not acceptable to me.’ His final words: ‘Now I am captain. So I have spent a lot of time making sure nothing like that happens in the current Australian team.’
Background
According to a TimesLIVE report on 7 November 2026, the ball-rubbing with sandpaper during the Cape Town Test in March 2018 created a major integrity crisis for Cricket Australia. Khawaja has played 88 Tests for Australia.
A NewsBytes report on 10 November 2026 said Khawaja’s autobiography ‘Sabr’ was published on Tuesday; the book includes an account of sandpaper being used in the Port Elizabeth Test.
At a glance
According to a NewKerala report on 10 November 2026, then captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were banned from competitive cricket for one year over the Cape Town Test incident.
Sources
Background sources: TimesLIVE, 7 November 2026 — https://www.timeslive.co.za/sport/cricket/2026-11-07-khawaja-disputes-sandpapergate-findings-in-new-book/; NewsBytes, 10 November 2026 — https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/sports/usman-khawaja-details-port-elizabeth-sandpapering/story; NewKerala, 10 November 2026 — https://www.newkerala.com/news/a/even-could-reverse-swing-this-ball-khawaja-reveals-552.htm
