Cummins to address Khawaja’s 2018 ball-tampering claims

Australia Test captain Pat Cummins is scheduled to address reporters at Cricket Central in Sydney at 9:30 a.m. AEDT on Friday, November 13, about allegations in former teammate Usman Khawaja’s memoir concerning the 2018 ball-tampering scandal. Cummins announced the session on social media, saying he had taken time to understand the extent of Khawaja’s account before responding.

Khawaja’s memoir, Sabr, alleges that knowledge of the plan to alter the ball with sandpaper during Australia’s 2018 tour of South Africa extended beyond the three players punished by Cricket Australia. He also says sandpaper had been used in the Port Elizabeth Test before Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera altering the ball during the Cape Town Test.

The claims are disputed. In a joint statement in 2021, Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon said they were unaware that a foreign substance had been taken onto the field during the Cape Town Test. Starc has reiterated that position, saying his recollection had not changed. The statement addressed knowledge of a substance taken onto the field at Cape Town; Khawaja’s account also makes claims about the earlier Port Elizabeth Test.