Australia captain Pat Cummins stated that teammate Usman Khawaja was “100 percent wrong” for claiming the entire team knew about the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa, according to Yahoo Sports.
The controversy stems from revelations in Khawaja’s new autobiography regarding the Cape Town Test and a previous match at Port Elizabeth, per the same publication.
Cummins firmly rejected the notion that players were aware of the prohibited tactics during a press conference lasting more than an hour, telling reporters, “I said that consistently for the last eight years.”
The Australian skipper further dismissed allegations that he acted as an architect for the scheme, calling the accusation “complete and utter nonsense” as cited by Yahoo Sports.
David Warner strongly defended Khawaja’s version of events and criticized the team captain’s public response during television commentary ahead of a match against England.
Warner stated that he supported the autobiography’s claims and accused Cummins of throwing a colleague under the bus, noting that he felt “very disappointed by that” per reporting from Yahoo Sports.
A previous Cricket Australia probe concluded that only Warner, Steve Smith, and Cameron Bancroft were involved in the original incident, leading to bans for all three players.
Fellow bowlers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon previously denied any knowledge in a 2021 statement, a stance Starc reiterated this week alongside denials from former coach Darren Lehmann and batting coach Graeme Hick.
Cummins criticized Khawaja for being casual with reputations and livelihoods, stating in the report that “friends aren’t casual with each other’s lives and reputations.”
While Cummins acknowledged that the team possessed an ugly win-at-all-costs mentality in 2018, he emphasized that the culture under his current leadership has been absolutely brilliant.