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Australia captain Pat Cummins has hit back at his former teammate Usman Khawaja's claims regarding the sandpaper controversy. He has called these claims '100 percent wrong' and 'complete nonsense'.
In 2018, the Australian team was playing a test match against South Africa in Cape Town. During this time, Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft used sandpaper on the ball as part of a conspiracy to tamper with the ball. All three players were punished for this.
Khwaja has recently published his autobiography. Former batsman Khawaja has said that the entire Australian team knew about the plan to tamper with the ball with sandpaper. Cummins was also included in this team. Khawaja says that the team should have taken responsibility for this.
Cummins responded to these claims while talking to the media in Sydney.
"When he says we all knew... if he means we knew sandpaper was going to be taken out on the field, then that's 100 percent wrong," he said.
"I've been saying this for the last eight years. I had no idea this was happening."
"He says that I and others were planning to tamper with the ball with sandpaper. This is complete nonsense."
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Cummins and Khawaja played 56 test matches together
Cummins and Khawaja played 56 test matches together. Khawaja retired from international cricket in January.
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When Cummins made his debut in Test cricket in 2011, Khawaja was a part of Australia's playing eleven. Both have also played together for the New South Wales team in domestic cricket.
Cummins said, "Usman is a friend of mine, but friends don't treat each other's lives and reputations carelessly. He treated my life and the lives of many other people carelessly in his book. I think he has done the same to Australian cricket. I fully support his right to tell his story. I'm glad he feels he can do that. But what we say and do is important." We have to take responsibility."
Cummins himself organized the media conference. At the beginning he promised that he would answer all the questions.
He said, "I don't want to have to talk about this again after today."
Cummins kept his promise. The fast bowler answered questions for one hour and eight minutes. He also became emotional on many occasions. He spoke on many issues -
Re-discussion of old dispute
Khawaja's allegations have reignited debate over the sandpaper ball tampering scheme, the investigation into cheating, the environment of Australian cricket and the reputations of those involved in the controversy.
This news has been covered in the Australian media and is also being discussed in the cricket world.
Khawaja has received support from Warner and fast bowler Chad Sayers. Sayers was part of the Australian team on the South Africa tour in 2018.
However, Australia's head coach at that time, Darren Lehmann, and his assistant, former England batsman Graham Hick, have rejected Khawaja's allegations. Another bowler Mitchell Starc, who was with the team on that tour, has also denied Khawaja's claims.
Khawaja has focused on Cummins and his fellow bowlers Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon. These four were part of Australia's bowling attack in the Cape Town Test. Even after eight years, he is the team's first choice bowler.
All four have always denied having knowledge of this plan. They had also said the same thing in a joint statement issued in 2021.
In his book 'Sabr', Khawaja has alleged that a coach had asked the Australian team to find ways to swing the ball. After this Bancroft was promoted to commit fraud.
Khawaja also said that he had asked the team to take full responsibility for the Cape Town controversy, but his views were rejected by two unnamed players.
Cummins said that he did not remember any such thing that the team should have taken responsibility together or that anyone had rejected this suggestion.
When asked whether the entire team was involved in a plan to tamper with the ball, he said, "There was no big plan to use illegal methods. People assume that you go from completely legal methods to suddenly using sandpaper and there must be some big plan behind it.
"It was not like that. There was no big plan. There was no team meeting. The bowlers did not say that this had to be done.
"There are many important things in Osman's words, in which he does not say anything clearly."
claims in the book
In his book, Khawaja has told in detail that during the Test match played in Newlands, New Zealand, he was sitting next to Bancroft in the dressing room, but he was not questioned during the investigation.
Both Khawaja and Warner have criticized the investigation. Greenberg has said that he will not reopen this investigation.
Cummins confirmed that he had met Greenberg. The captain said that he did not want to reveal any confidential conversation. However, he said that after Khawaja's book was published, Greenberg had reviewed the files related to the sandpaper controversy. Greenberg found the statements recorded in the investigation to be "consistent with each other."
Cummins has played 77 test matches for Australia and has been the captain of the team since 2021. He said that in his career he has seen only one incident of ball tampering. This happened during a home Sheffield Shield match, when a player took a bottle cap onto the field.
However, he admitted that sometimes the condition of the ball can be changed during training. This happens when bowlers want to practice in a particular way or batsmen want to face a particular ball condition.
Cummins said that in such circumstances it is not unknown to scratch the balls used for training with sandpaper or a Stanley knife.
What else did Pat Cummins say
When Cummins was asked whether, as a bowler, he was suspected of ball tampering in the Cape Town Test? In response to this, Cummins said that bowlers often touch the ball as little as possible.
This is done so that the ball remains dry and remains in reverse swing position. At the time of the sandpaper controversy, Cummins was 24 years old and playing his 13th Test match.
On the question of whether there was a culture of ball tampering in that era, Cummins said that at that time he had seen some things which he now understands can be called cheating.
When asked why Khawaja decided to speak out on the issue at the end of his career and remained silent for the intervening eight years, Cummins said the incident might have been a "huge burden" on the left-handed batsman.
Talking about the atmosphere in the Australian team eight years ago, Cummins said, "I didn't like the way we talked to the umpires and the players of the opposing team. I think there was a bit of arrogance in the team at that time and the attitude of the players was very bad at times. As a young player, I didn't think it was right."
"Now I'm the captain. I've spent a lot of time making sure the team doesn't have that attitude."
Australian cricket's old wounds
Khawaja's claims have reopened the old wounds of Australian cricket. Due to this, such a tussle has started in the cricket world, which seems to be reaching the level of a war of words.
For the last few days, questions are being asked continuously as to who knew what and whether the truth was hidden in the last eight years.
The most pressure has been on those bowlers who played for Australia in Cape Town. In these, questions have been raised especially on Cummins, because he is now the captain of the team.
He was being demanded to come forward and answer and show leadership. Cummins did just that in an unusual media conference held at an indoor cricket center in Sydney.
In the last few days, other people associated with this controversy, Lehmann, Starc and Mitchell Marsh have also spoken to the media. His vague statements in response to direct questions gave the impression that he was involving himself in this controversy. But Cummins did not do this.
The captain did not try to avoid any question asked by the large crowd of journalists. During this time even the media manager did not interfere.
Most of the attention was paid to the criticism of Khawaja, who was once Cummins' friend and teammate. Cummins came across as a credible witness by refuting Khawaja's claims in such strong terms.
The question is whether his answers will be enough to end the speculation. Khwaja will definitely say something again on this issue. Warner can also present his views, who has not yet published his book.
Cummins cannot prove the non-existence of something. Therefore, to convince the world that he was not involved in the planning of the sandpaper controversy, he has only his own statements.
On this occasion, Cummins gave impressive answers. Yet, when he says that he does not want to talk about the sandpaper controversy again, it seems to be his only wish.
We used AI to translate this article, which was originally written in English. A BBC journalist checked this translation before publication. Learn more about how we're using AI.
Published by Collective Newsroom for the BBC.
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