Cummins filmed in animated exchange with wife ahead of Sandpapergate press conference
Australia captain Pat Cummins was filmed speaking animatedly with his wife, Becky, on a Sydney street on Wednesday in his first public sighting since Usman Khawaja's explosive claims about the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in Khawaja's autobiography, Sabr. The footage has emerged as Cummins prepares to address the controversy surrounding the book.
The Australian published the footage on Wednesday showing Cummins and Becky engaged in conversation before they entered a nearby property; Cummins was wearing a T-shirt and shorts and appeared relatively quiet during the exchange. He is currently resting from Australia's white-ball series against England ahead of their upcoming four-Test series against New Zealand. Earlier, Cummins said: "It's obviously a long time ago. All the investigations, everything was done back then. Answered every question a million times," and added: "It was dealt with then, all I can say is as a group we've moved on. Very happy with the last eight or nine years, how we've been as a group and evolved. He didn't go into too much detail... As always it was 'no worries, you can tell your story, that's fine'."
Khawaja's autobiography has reopened debate about the Cape Town Test of 2018 when Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera using sandpaper to alter the ball. Cricket Australia subsequently suspended Bancroft, David Warner and Steve Smith, with the latter two also losing leadership positions.
In Sabr, Khawaja alleges that knowledge of the ball-tampering plan extended across the Australian dressing room and coaching staff and that the practice had begun during the previous Test in Port Elizabeth. He has also questioned why the investigation did not interview him despite him being part of the touring squad.
David Warner has publicly backed Khawaja's account, describing his claims as accurate. Mitchell Starc, by contrast, has reiterated the bowling group's earlier position that they were unaware of sandpaper being taken onto the field.
Cummins has scheduled a press conference at Cricket Central in Sydney for Friday morning and has offered to answer questions about the allegations; he said he had taken time to understand the full extent of Khawaja's claims before responding. The upcoming appearance will draw attention to what the bowling group knew about the events in South Africa and to the joint statement issued by the quartet in 2021.
Cummins is due to face the media at Cricket Central in Sydney on Friday morning, where he has said he will address and answer questions on Khawaja's claims.
