LAHORE / RAWALPINDI — Australia captain Pat Cummins has again denied any involvement in the plot to use sandpaper on the ball in a 2018 Test against South Africa, calling the allegations in Usman Khawaja’s autobiography “utter nonsense”. Former Australian batsman Khawaja, whose autobiography was published this week, said last weekend that all the players at Newlands knew about the plot, triggering calls for a new investigation.
“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. “He says that I and others were architects of a scheme to ball tamper with sandpaper.
That’s complete and utter nonsense.” Steve Smith and David Warner, the then Australian captain and vice-captain, were banned by Cricket Australia from elite cricket for a year for bringing the game into disrepute over the incident. Opening batter Cameron Bancroft, who brought a piece of sandpaper onto the field, received a nine-month suspension. All three accepted their punishments and later returned to Test cricket.