'Utter nonsense': Cummins breaks silence on Khawaja's sandpaper scandal claims

Australia captain Pat Cummins has strongly denied allegations that he was involved in the plan to use sandpaper to tamper with the ball during the 2018 Test against South Africa. He has called the claims made by former teammate Usman Khawaja in his autobiography "complete and utter nonsense". Khawaja's autobiography was published this week. Last weekend, the former Australia opener claimed that everyone in the team knew about the plan, leading to calls for a fresh investigation into the infamous ball-tampering scandal. Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Cummins rejected the allegations and said he had consistently denied knowing about the use of sandpaper.

Cummins hits back at Khawaja's claims

"When he says we all knew, if by that he means that we knew sandpaper was going out in the field, he's 100% wrong. I've said that consistently for the last eight years," Cummins told a press conference on Friday. "I did not know that was happening, 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 ball tamper with sandpaper. That's complete and utter nonsense."

What happened in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal?

The incident took place during Australia's Test against South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town in March 2018. Steve Smith, who was Australia's captain at the time, and his deputy David Warner were banned from elite cricket for one year by Cricket Australia for bringing the game into disrepute. Opening batter Cameron Bancroft , who was caught using sandpaper on the ball, received a nine-month suspension. All three accepted their punishments and later returned to Test cricket. Cummins also spoke about Khawaja's account of the incident in his autobiography. He said he was surprised by the former opener's claims about Bancroft. "I was genuinely shocked this week when I found out that Usman admitted that he told Cam to be careful when using sandpaper, that's not the Usman that I know," Cummins said. "It's not the Usman that has been part of a team, has helped rebuild the Australian cricket culture over the last eight years."

'Friends aren't casual with each other's lives and reputations'

Cummins said he respected Khawaja's right to share his version of events in his autobiography. However, he felt the allegations were serious and needed to be addressed. "Usman's a friend, but friends aren't casual with each other's lives and reputations. "In his book, Ussie has been casual with my life and the lives of many others, and I think Australian cricket." Cummins was also asked about Khawaja's claim that two players had rejected his suggestion that the team should take collective responsibility for the ball-tampering incident.

The Australia captain said he did not remember any such discussion. "I don't remember any conversation around collective responsibility," he said. "So then, I've got no idea who those two people would be because I don't remember ever being asked or having a conversation about it."

Cummins rules out legal action

Despite describing some of the allegations as serious, Cummins said he would not take legal action against Khawaja. "I did get advised this week that some of the things that've been said are probably defamatory, but I won't be doing that," Cummins said. He added that it was time to move on from the controversy, which took place eight years ago. "You've got to move on. It's been eight years. We're moving on. So you got to draw a line at some point."

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