Cummins unconcerned about Khawaja's upcoming book ahead of South Africa Tests
Pat Cummins said he had spoken to Usman Khawaja about the latter's forthcoming autobiography and was unconcerned about any disclosures relating to the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, speaking ahead of Australia's first Test series in South Africa since 2018 which begins on Friday.
The ball-tampering episode erupted in Cape Town in 2018 when captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and batter Cameron Bancroft were banned for their roles. Four Australia bowlers who played in that match, including Cummins, have denied any prior knowledge and the quartet released a joint statement about the incident in 2021. Khawaja featured in all four Tests in 2018 and retired from international cricket in January; his autobiography will be released in November. The group that includes Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon are again due to be together for the first Test against South Africa in Durban.
Cummins said: "Uz gave me a buzz a few weeks back that he is releasing a book," adding: "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. "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."
The quartet's 2021 joint statement said: "We feel compelled to put the key facts on the record again. "We did not know a foreign substance was taken onto the field to alter the condition of the ball until we saw the images on the big screen at Newlands. "And to those who, despite the absence of evidence, insist that 'we must have known' about the use of a foreign substance simply because we are bowlers, we say this: The umpires during that Test match, Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth, both very respected and experienced umpires, inspected the ball after the images surfaced on the TV coverage and did not change it because there was no sign of damage. "We respectfully request an end to the rumour-mongering and innuendo. It has gone on too long and it is time to move on."
Cameron Bancroft, in a 2021 interview with the Guardian, was asked if the bowlers knew and replied: "It's pretty probably self-explanatory." Earlier this week Mitchell Starc said: "What's left to come out after eight years?" Speaking on Thursday, Cummins told ABC: "It's nothing new," and added: "We've spoken about it a little bit. If the crowd gets rowdy or whatever, if someone needs an extra helping hand, we're around. "To be honest, it's so long ago and we, as a group, move on from things pretty quickly. It hasn't taken up too much of our time."
The South Africa trip begins a year of major away series for Australia; the article notes a challenging home summer against New Zealand, followed by tours to India and a defence of the Ashes in England next year. All-rounder Cameron Green has been ruled out because of injury, leaving Australia likely to choose between Cooper Connolly and Nic Maddinson for a middle-order spot. South Africa have named two spinners, Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer, in their XI for Durban on a pitch expected to turn.
Australia's first Test against South Africa starts in Durban on Friday, when the players involved in the 2018 controversies will again be in the same match-day environment.
