Usman Khawaja, Pat Cummins
Australia Test captain Pat Cummins is set to respond to Usman Khawaja ‘s allegations about the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, saying he needed time to understand the claims made in the former opener’s autobiography before addressing them.
Khawaja’s book, ‘Sabr’, released on Tuesday, has brought the controversy surrounding the Cape Town Test against South Africa in 2018 back into focus. Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has also questioned Cummins’ silence on the matter, saying the team needs to establish what happened during the 2018 Test.
“I’m training at Cricket Central tomorrow morning before the Blues play in the Shield match,” Cummins wrote on ‘X’. “I can’t believe we haven’t heard from Pat Cummins yet, the Australian captain,” Clarke said. In the book, Khawaja claimed that the entire Australian team knew about the plan to use sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball. He also alleged that then captain Steve Smith , vice-captain David Warner and opener Cameron Bancroft were made scapegoats by cricket administrators despite other members of the team allegedly knowing about the plan. Speaking on 2DayFM’s Breakfast with Nath & Emma, Clarke expressed surprise that the current Australia captain had not yet addressed the allegations publicly.
Cummins said he would address the media on Friday at Cricket Central, where he is scheduled to train ahead of New South Wales’ Sheffield Shield match.
