Australia captain Pat Cummins has called a press conference to have his say on Usman Khawaja’s ball-tampering allegations that have reopened the 2018 sandpaper scandal.
Cummins has been rested from the white-ball series against England which begins on Friday in Perth, but has publicly invited a media grilling in Sydney on Friday morning to respond to the accusations which have followed the publication of Khawaja’s new autobiography.
Khawaja’s memoir Sabr has reopened old scars in Australian cricket, specifically with his claims that knowledge of the sandpaper plot was widespread within the team and coaching staff even though Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft alone were punished.
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald he said blame was shared by “all of us”, said his calls for collective responsibility were shot down by specific un-named team-mates and suggested tampering had been going on prior to the Cape Town Test where Bancroft’s cheating was exposed.
His revelations have invited renewed speculation over the role of the bowling group which benefitted from the ball manipulation – with Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon having previously distanced themselves from the episode.
In 2021, the quartet issued a carefully worded statement responding to “rumour mongering and innuendo” in which they denied knowing that a foreign substance had been taken on to the field to alter the ball.
That line may no longer hold water, given Khawaja’s suggestions that the matter was openly discussed and had taken place in the previous match.
Now Cummins, who could find his position as captain of the national team called into question, is set to confront the issue head on.
“I’m training at Cricket Central (in Sydney) tomorrow morning before the Blues play in the Shield match,” he wrote on X.
“Happy to speak with any and all media about the events of this week at 9.30 am. I’ve taken some time to try and better understand the long list and full extent of Uzzy’s allegations so I can respond properly. Afterwards please stay and support the Blues! I’ll ask CA (Cricket Australia) to send out details.”
Starc appeared at a sponsor’s event earlier this week, offering a stiff response that reiterated his previous position.
“As far as our statement said, we weren’t aware of things being taken on the field, that’s where I’ll leave it,” he said.
“I’ll stick to what I said five years ago, what I said at the time, eight years ago. Clearly, there’s different versions from different people, and I’ll leave it where I left it back then.”
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