Australia Test captain Pat Cummins has said he is ready to respond to former teammate Usman Khawaja’s explosive claims about the 2018 ball-tampering scandal.
The 33-year-old confirmed on Thursday that he would address the media at 9.30 am on Friday at Cricket Central, ahead of the third day’s play in New South Wales’ Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia. Cummins said he was prepared to speak to “any and all media about the events of this week”.
I'm training at Cricket Central tomorrow morning before the Blues play in the Shield match.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 to send out details
In his autobiography, Sabr, Khawaja alleged that the entire Australian team knew about the use of sandpaper to tamper with the ball during the 2018 Test against South Africa in Cape Town, rather than just the three players who were sanctioned: David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft.
Smith and Warner, who were Australia's captain and vice-captain at the time, were banned from elite cricket for a year by Cricket Australia and stripped of their leadership roles.
Bancroft, who was caught using a piece of sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball, received a nine-month suspension. All three accepted their punishments and later returned to Test cricket.
Cummins' decision to address the media comes after several former players, including ex-Australia captain Michael Clarke, called on him to respond to the allegations. “I can't believe we haven't heard from Pat Cummins yet, the Australian captain,” Clarke said on 2DayFM's Breakfast with Nath & Emma show.
Australia’s famed bowling quartet of Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, who were part of the squad for the series, have previously denied knowing about the ball-tampering during the 2018 Cape Town Test.
While Cummins is set to address the allegations, former Australia opener David Warner has publicly backed Khawaja, describing his account as “100 per cent accurate”.
In a video shared on Instagram, Warner said the focus should be on the substance of Khawaja’s claims rather than when he chose to reveal them.
“It has been eight years since I have spoken on this topic. And Uzzie (Usman Khawaja), I throw my full support behind you. I thank you for what you have done. It’s 100% accurate what you’ve said,” Warner said.
Khawaja has faced considerable backlash following the release of his book, including tough questions from ABC journalist Sarah Ferguson.
During an interview, Khawaja refused to answer whether current Test captain Cummins had prior knowledge of the plan to tamper with the ball.
“I’m not going to answer that. I’ve written what I’ve written in my book,” Khawaja said. “I’ve come out and stood by those guys [Warner, Smith and Bancroft] and told my account of what I saw.
“This has never been a witch hunt for me.
“You’ve got to remember [that] Pat Cummins is a good friend of mine. Mitchell Starc, a lot of these guys [are and] other players in the team [are too],” he added.