Usman Khawaja has certainly gotten his fifteen minutes of fame when he published his autobiography and unleashed the, "truth" of Sandpapergate. This opened a nationwide debate as to what was true and what was false.
Amid all of this, current Aussie captain, Pat Cummins held a presser on Friday to clear the air.
As Australian cricket captain, Pat Cummins, spent more than an hour being grilled by reporters over one of sport's biggest cheating scandals; the tension in the hall was occasionally pierced by muffled cheers.
Outside, a crucial match in the top tier of domestic cricket (New South Wales vs. South Australia) was getting under way. Cummins was clear he'd rather we all be talking about that.
Inside the nets at Cricket Central in Sydney, he faced more than a dozen TV cameras and a gaggle of journalists several times as large. His goal: to put rumours of his involvement in "sandpapergate" to rest.
"I don't want to talk about this again after today," he said. "Even if it takes all day... I'll stay here until we have no more questions."
Cummins has hit back at former team-mate Usman Khawaja's claims over the sandpaper scandal; calling them, "100% wrong" and "utter nonsense."
A book by his friend and former teammate Usman Khawaja has renewed scrutiny on a 2018 plot to tamper with the ball using sandpaper in Australia's third Test match against South Africa in Cape Town.
Three players admitted they were involved at the time and were handed lengthy bans but in a memoir released last week; Khawaja said the entire Australian team knew about the sandpaper scheme.
Cummins said, "I said that consistently for the last eight years. I did not know that was happening. He says that I and others were architects of a scheme to ball tamper with sandpaper. That's complete and utter nonsense."
Khawaja's claims have plunged the Australian cricket world into chaos; thrown speculation over key figures from that Test - including star bowler Cummins who has since risen to hold what many joke is Australia's most important job - and reopened wounds for fans.
Cummins and Khawaja played 56 Tests together until Khawaja retired from international cricket in January.
Khawaja was in the Australia XI when Cummins made his Test debut in 2011 and the pair were also once team-mates in domestic cricket with New South Wales.
Josh, 28, told the BBC he thought everyone had moved on: "It's just a bit crazy that it's all blown up again... I think it is a bit ridiculous, after eight years."
"I'm a bit bored of it," another spectator at the New South Wales vs. South Australia Sheffield Shield match said.
Among fans, there's frustration that Khawaja has chosen to come forward now; almost a decade on and at the start of an exciting summer and year of cricket. Though there's an argument there'd never be a good time for Khawaja, who retired from international cricket in January, to make these allegations.
There's a worry about the impact on the men's team's performance this summer; after a lacklustre showing in South Africa last month - its first Test matches there since the 2018 incident.
There's a sense of injustice that Australia can't seem to escape the scandal; given - according to many players themselves - how common boundary-bending on ball tampering apparently was in that era.
"It's a bit of a stitch up," 21-year-old James said. "Every country has done it... if it wasn't us, it was probably going to be someone else."
Khawaja's memoir is also causing rancour among current and former players and coaches.
In it, he said he had wanted the team to take collective responsibility for the tampering after batsman Cameron Bancroft was caught with the sandpaper on field.
"I said: 'Take this as a team. We did this as a team. We knew what was going on, and we have to take it as a team'."
However, Khawaja has since said he didn't want to start a "witch hunt" and has refused to answer questions on exactly who he claims knew of the scheme and what they knew.
Asked about a fresh investigation, Cummins said it was a matter for Cricket Australia.
Over the marathon press conference - which one reporter suggested was the longest in Australian sporting history - Cummins was cautious, pausing often to consider his responses and to make sure they answered the questions being asked of him.
He was also frank - using strong words to reject what he said were "vague" claims by Khawaja and admitting he was frustrated a friend had put him in this position. "Friends aren't casual with each other's lives and reputations... That's something I've been grappling with the last couple of days."
As the reporters ran out of steam, Cummins said it was "annoying" that the sandpapergate scandal was still a distraction for Australian cricket. He gestured outside to the Sheffield Shield match and mentioned Friday's one-day international against England in Perth; from which he and other key players are being rested.
"It's been eight years...Hopefully today we put a line through it and we're done and we can all move on to much more fun topics, like actual cricket."
"In his book he's been casual with my life and the lives of many others - and, I think, Australian cricket. I support him to tell his story, 100%, I'm glad he feels like he can but we have to be accountable for the things that we say and do."
At times emotional, Cummins addressed a wide range of topics, including:
- Advice that some of Khawaja's claims are defamatory but he will not take legal action.
- He had been in contact with Khawaja and Smith since the book was published but not Warner.
- His belief that the one-year bans handed to Smith and Warner and a nine-month suspension to Bancroft were "heavy handed."
- He had no recollection of Australia tampering with the ball in the 2017-18 Ashes series against England.
- He had met with Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive Todd Greenberg, who has reviewed the files from the original investigation.
- Explaining why sandpaper would have been present in the dressing room and that it was sometimes used by bowlers in training in order to practise with a reverse-swinging ball.
Few people think he'll get his wish.
"It's going to be hard to move on, given that there's two sides of the story and it doesn't look like either side is going to back down," James said. "I don't know what the outcome will be."
Khawaja has been supported by Warner and Chadd Sayers, a seam bowler who was part of the Australia squad on the 2018 tour of South Africa.
However, his allegations have been rejected by Darren Lehmann, who was then the Australia head coach and former England batter Graeme Hick, one of Lehmann's assistants. Mitchell Starc, another bowler on the tour, has also denied Khawaja's claims.
David Warner, who received the most severe punishment of the Cape Town trio, said Khawaja had written the truth and that Cummins' press conference denying the claims, "threw him under the bus."
Warner has questioned the investigation into the incident by claiming that Australia's bowlers from the Cape Town Test were not interviewed.
"As far as l am aware, CA did not interview Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc or Nathan Lyon in their 2018 investigation," Warner said.
"If that's correct, then how can CA push the idea that the bowlers didn't know? It looks like they had decided who they wanted to blame from the very beginning, ran a shoddy investigation to serve the purpose and now they want to maintain the false narrative that the bowlers had no idea. That stinks of a cover-up."
The four frontline bowlers - Hazlewood, Starc, Lyon and Pat Cummins - have maintained they didn't know about the plan to use sandpaper to tamper with the ball.
Cummins, Australia's Test captain since 2021, said in his extraordinary news conference on Friday that he was interviewed as part of the investigation.
Steve Smith, the captain at the time, who was also suspended, has been travelling overseas and is yet to say anything publicly about the claims in the book. Bancroft is also staying silent for now despite previously suggesting the bowlers knew.
Half of Australia's living cricket royalty and a slew of former coaches - some of whom have been accused of wrongdoing too - have thrown in their two cents.
CA is under pressure from some to reopen its investigation into sandpapergate - something chief executive Todd Greenberg has already ruled out.
In response to Warner's comments, CA said: "As we have stated previously, all players were given the opportunity to speak at the time of the initial investigation and have had the ability to come forward with new evidence in the eight years since."
"Subsequently, CA has respected every player and former players' right to provide their own version of events."
Justin Langer and Mark Waugh have urged the players and fans to move on from 'sandpaper gate' for the good of cricket after Pat Cummins fronted the media for more than an hour. This comes as David Warner said he wasn't ready to move on from the saga.
Speaking on SEN Radio after the presser, Langer - who coached both Cummins and Khawaja - suggested it was taking too much of a toll on everyone involved.
"They're strong leaders, they stand up and it's obviously turned into crisis point again," Langer said. "There was a great crisis eight years ago and the way it's been reopened this week, there's a crisis in Australian cricket.
"And the captain stood up. Mitch Marsh stood up yesterday and hopefully that'll put some sort of line in the sand because we have to move on it. There's too many people being hurt in Australian cricket, there's too many people, and that includes the Australian public. When I talk about Australian cricket, it's about the public, it's about the fans, it's about the players, it's about everyone who's involved, the past players, the present players, future players."
Mark Waugh also agreed. Speaking on Fox Sports cricket, before the start of the ODI against England, Waugh was sitting next to Warner when he urged the cricket community to finally "move on" and put a line under the situation.
Warner - who was banned over the incident in 2018 - didn't agree. "I still stick by Uz (Khawaja) and what he's written in that book, it is the truth and I really support him," Warner claimed. "I really feel for Uzzie at the moment. I actually feel like the captain today threw Uzzie under the bus and I'm really, really disappointed about that."
Here is how the Australian newspapers on Saturday have reacted to the latest chapter - Cummins' extraordinary news conference:
- The Australian said, "Captain Pat throws the book at Khawaja", including a quote where he says "Uzzie's been casual with my life and the lives of others, and I think Australian cricket."
- The Sydney Morning Herald said, a "defiant" Cummins rejected Khawaja's claims, with its chief sports writer writing that "the firestorm in Australian cricket is burning out of control."
- Melbourne's Age focused on Warner's response, in which he says Cummins "threw Uzzie under the bus."
- The West Australian said Cummins has "thrown the book" at his former teammate by dismissing his claims as "complete and utter nonsense."
- Brisbane's Courier Mail said the "gloves are off" as Australian cricket's "brawl of the century" has "erupted."
Prof. David Rowe of the University of Western Sydney told the BBC the saga was still so painful for many players and fans as the country sees itself as "a nation of good sports".
"The idea of being a good sport is two things. One is being good at sport, so you actually win. But the other side is that you do it honourably and fairly," he said.
"Many Australians would see themselves as above all that. That is: cheating is what other teams get up to... not the nation of good sports." He said the revelation was a "nasty shock" which brought the country "collective shame" which lingers today.
He says he doubts that the cricket scene would be able to move on without a fresh response from the governing body, Cricket Australia.
"One of the best ways to fuel conspiracy theories and keep sandpapergate going is to essentially say 'there's no more to see here' - especially when that comes from the authorities," Rowe said.
There are some standout moments from the presser:
1. On the allegations in Khawaja’s book
“When he says we all knew – if by that he means we knew sandpaper was going out on the field – he’s 100% wrong," Cummins said. "I said that consistently for the last eight years. I did not know that was happening."
"But I think Usman actually says things that are far more serious than that. He says that I and others were architects of a scheme to ball tamper with sandpaper. That’s complete and utter nonsense."
2. On his relationship with Khawaja
"Usman is a friend, but friends aren’t casual with each other’s lives and reputations. In his book he’s been casual with my life and the lives of many others and, I think, Australian cricket. I support him to tell his story, 100%. I’m glad he feels like he can but we have to be accountable for the things that we say and do."
"Usman is a friend. But I think the way he’s kind of been quite casual and flippant with people’s lives and the Australian cricket, I don’t think that’s OK. I don’t think that’s what friends do."
"It’s been eight and a half years, we have moved on. We’ll keep saying it, but again, these are people’s lives. It was traumatic for some of them. They have had to work through quite a bit to get out the other side. So, again, that’s why I’m really disappointed and frustrated this week … how it’s been dealt with so flippantly."
3. 'There’s no grand plan'
"There was no masterplan around using illegal methods. I think that’s maybe something that hasn’t been spoken about enough. People assume you have gone from very legal methods to suddenly taking sandpaper and then [there] must have been some huge masterplan."
"The truth is that is not the case. There’s no grand plan. In a team meeting, there’s no bowlers saying, 'This is what must happen'.”
4. On a bottle cap used in a Shield game
"I have seen [ball tampering] once. Saw it in a Shield game, some time before the South African tour. Actually, one is a batter, a senior player. I won’t mention him. But he took a bottle cap out on to the field … I was looking going, 'Wow, that’s not OK'."
"It was dealt with. The umpires knew it as well. They caught him out and said, 'You got to stop that right now'. It was dealt with. That’s the only time I had seen something illegal out there."
5. On other ways to tamper with the ball
"Let’s get into it. I had heard superglue. I’ve heard zippers. Superglue on the keeper’s gloves so you catch it. I had heard nail polish, layers and layers of nail polish. Murray Mints."
"These are discussions that I’m sure every suburban change room has as well. We are having them in the Australian cricket team but I think it’s one thing to talk about but another thing to go ahead and do it. Again, all of those methods I pointed out, I’d say I’ve never seen in the Australian cricket team. Other than a bottlecap once."
6. On taking collective responsibility
"I don’t remember any conversation around collective responsibility. I don’t remember any team meeting where he [Khawaja] stood up and said, 'Let’s own this as a team'."
7. On Cricket Australia’s investigation and bans
“I think that investigation was a proper way to do it. I think you can maybe argue whether the judgments were fair, but what can you do? I got asked all the questions, answered them all fairly. I think the intentions might be sound."
"If we are talking about how they were sanctioned, my personal opinion was it was way too heavy-handed. Way over the top. So I think that’s OK to say. But to then extrapolate that out into everyone else knew – that’s a huge extrapolation and very different to what I think was an injustice."
8. On team culture
"Today, I’ll talk as Australian captain right now but also talk about the 24-year-old young guy and his recollections playing my 13th Test back in 2018. In a team that at that stage I think had a win-at-all-costs mentality, had an ugly underbelly, and there was too many silos within the team – traits that I hope that everyone has seen and [I’ve tried] very hard to eradicate for the last six years as captain."
"I hadn’t played a lot of Test cricket but my memories of coming back into that side, there were parts I didn’t really think were OK. I thought that the way we acted on the field was quite abrasive. I didn’t like the way we spoke to umpires, the opposition. I think there was a bit of an arrogance and a bit of an ugliness at times that didn’t sit well with me as a young guy. And now I’m captain, I have spent a lot of time making sure that that’s not the case with this current Aussie team. And I think we have been absolutely brilliant since 2018."
9. On claims that bowlers manage the ball
Cricket Australia wants to move on from ball tampering saga but its equivocation has the opposite effect
"I can see how people draw the assumption that … what you’re doing is for the bowlers. The bowlers must be coming up with the ideas. It’s not how it happens. As soon as [the] ball gets wet it won’t reverse. Bowling, running around, you get sweaty, you don’t touch the ball. The keeper throws it to mid-on, you are trying to get least amount of hands, particularly sweaty, hands on. A lot of time it falls on the batter. I can see why people think bowlers must manage the ball. It’s not the case."
10. On the prevalence of ball tampering
"It’s actually, again, quite a normal thing. We carry sandpaper normally for the batters. But we use it for balls as well around training. You face a lot of reverse swing so the batters want to base it and practise in the nets. We scratched balls on concrete, I’ve seen someone use a Stanley knife, sandpaper use – all the methods are very normal around training so again I think it comes to, 'There must have been a plan'."
"Maybe it sounds absurd to take sandpaper on the field but to give more context, it’s part of the change room. We may have been doing it around training but there is a leap to then think it’s OK to take it on to the field, but maybe not perhaps as big a leap as some people may think."
11. On Khawaja’s claims of racism
"Of the things I’ve read, it [Khawaja’s claim that he was not given the captaincy because of his skin colour and background] is the most serious. To think that the job I hold is quarantined from people based on their skin colour, it’s a pretty big statement. If you are going to say that I think you have to have evidence, I just don’t think that’s the case."
12. On possible legal action
"I did get advised this week that some of the things that have been said [in Khawaja’s book] are probably defamatory. I won’t be doing that [taking legal action]. You’ve got to move on."
"It’s been eight years. You’ve got to draw the line at some point."
I believe that this issue has gone on for long enough. If there's one thing I've come to realise; it's that some authors will bring out a topic in their book that will create shock value. This, in turn, will lead to book sales.
As far as I know, Khawaja didn't get much attention during his playing time and now he figured it was time to soak in the spotlight. If he knew anything back then; he should've come forward back then. He could've stayed anonymous.
He hasn't been as forthcoming in live interviews as he's been in his book. As a result, he's cancelled book tours. As he's found out; he can't the limelight. Not everyone can.