‘Tell your story’: Cummins backs Uzzie’s tell-all book as revelations over Sandpaper-gate tipped

Australian captain Pat Cummins has confirmed he has chatted with Usman Khawaja about his upcoming autobiography but said he is not concerned about any revelations his former teammate will make about the infamous Sandpapergate series.

Khawaja is a close mate of David Warner, who was suspended for a year and issued with a lifetime captaincy ban for his role in the 2018 saga, and was among those who believes responsibility for the debacle should have been shared more by the team.

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At stake is a key question as to whether any other Australians knew of the ball-tampering plans outside of former skipper Steve Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft, who were all banned by Cricket Australia for their role in the affair.

The bowling group has twice issued statements strongly denying they had any knowledge of the ball tampering that unfolded in the Cape Town Test, with the Australian captain saying on Thursday they had answered “a million questions” on the topic.

Khawaja also met with Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg recently to alert him to the nature of his upcoming book titled Sabr.

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“Uz gave me a buzz a few weeks back that he is releasing a book a few weeks ago. He didn’t go into too much detail, just basically gave me the heads up that he is doing a book and, as always, no worries,” Cummins said.

“Tell your story. It’s fine. It’s obviously a long time ago and all the investigations, everything was done back then and we answered every question a million times.

“It was dealt with then and all I can say is that as a group, we have moved on and we are very happy with the last eight to nine years how we have been as a group and evolved and obviously my focus is on captaining the cricket team.”

Warner, who now works as a Kayo Sports expert analyst, is also working on an autobiography he promised would be “an interesting read”. Asked recently if there was more detail to come about what unfolded in 2018, he said “you just never know”.

After Bancroft said in an infamous 2021 interview with The Guardian that it was “self explanatory” when asked if the bowlers knew about what had occurred, the trio of champion fast bowlers issued a firm denial.

“We did not know a foreign substance was taken on to the field to alter the condition of the ball until we saw the images on the big screen at Newlands,” the statement read.

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Cummins, meanwhile, has backed the Australian selection committee headed by George Bailey following the stinging critique made by former Test opener Matthew Hayden following the selection of Nic Maddinson.

Hayden’s comments prompted Australia’s vice-captain Travis Head to attack former greats where he believes are too eager to “put the bullet” through current players who might have an off day.

The Australian captain, while saying he had a good relationship with the past players group, is adamant Bailey and his fellow selectors are “world class” and pointed out the side has a good record of solving problems.

“I don’t have a strong view (but) I’ve got a really good relationship with all the past players. They’ve been great (and are). obviously super passionate. So I think it all comes from a good place,” Cummins said.

“I think, you know, for most of you guys and the past players, it’s about talking through the issues and the problems that they see in the game. (But) what I would say is that we see all of them as well. Our job is to go and then solve the problem and we’re very aware of issues and things that do need to be solved.

“And all I’d say is I think we’ve shown a really good history of solving those problems better than anyone else. George and Tony (Dodemaide) and Andrew (McDonald) and the selection staff, the selection committee, they’ve just been absolutely world class. They’re absolute top-tier type operators and I think we’re just super lucky to have them.”

Although the Australians have opted against finalising an XI until inspecting the pitch at Kingsmead Stadium on Friday, they spent an extended time in the middle and the nets on Thursday afternoon, with a decent show-out on the eve of the Test.

After stormy weather earlier this week, the Aussies trained in warm conditions under blue skies ahead of what Cummins acknowledged would be a significant challenge.

The potential revelations in Khawaja’s book aside, the Australian captain believes the team has evolved considerably and fir the better since their last Test tour of South Africa eight years ago.

“I’d hope so. You know, it was quite a big series, that. 2018 was pretty full on,” Cummins said.

“ I think after that, I think pretty much every Test team in the world felt like they (would have) adjusted, made some adjustments, and this group is quite a different group in how we approach playing.

“I’m really proud of how the guys have been pretty much since that 2018 series.”

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