Cummins urged to end sandpaper saga with full disclosure of 2018 South Africa revelations
Pat Cummins, captain of Australia’s Test team, faces renewed scrutiny after Usman Khawaja’s recent book detailed widespread acceptance of ball tampering during Australia’s March 2018 tour of South Africa. The piece argues Cummins can bring the episode to a close by publicly explaining what players knew rather than what they say they did not.
In March 2018 Steve Smith was punished by Cricket Australia after ball tampering on that tour escalated, with CA limiting formal blame to Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. Khawaja’s recent revelations add context to that episode and, the article says, show Smith “adamantly took the fall to spare others.” Smith’s decision to accept responsibility was summed up in his remark: “Sometimes, you just have to tuck in.”
Eight-and-a-half years later, Khawaja’s account has created fresh problems for current players by detailing a team-wide acceptance of tampering during the 2018 campaign. Khawaja enjoyed his full playing career before making these disclosures, a point that the article notes has denied the same luxury to active players Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon. The author states that the saga persists because, from the start, participants avoided speaking the whole truth.
The article describes Cummins as not being a central figure in the original incident—“the junior corner of the bowling quartet, recently back from six years of injury”—but says that, as captain now, he has a tendency to deflect unwelcome questions with a broad smile and a shake of the head. It cites Cummins’ response on Australia’s recent return to South Africa when asked if the earlier tour held untold secrets: “It’s obviously a long time ago. All the investigations, everything was done back then. Answered every question a million times … all I can say is as a group we’ve moved on.”
Khawaja, according to the article, asserts that getting reverse swing “by any means” was a team-wide policy driven from the coaches down and that sandpaper was openly used in experiments and discussed in dressing rooms during at least two Tests. David Warner quickly backed Khawaja’s version, Chadd Sayers — one of the tour’s bowlers — also supported it, and an as-yet unnamed squad member made similar confirmations to Cricinfo; the article counts those four confirmations. By contrast, the bowling quartet of Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon are under scrutiny because of a 2021 statement denying knowledge of the rumbled plan to sandpaper the ball in Cape Town.
The article notes that Starc this week reiterated his denial about the third Test and, when questioned further, added a denial about sandpaper knowledge in the second. It poses a series of factual questions the players denying involvement should answer: what conversations they recall, whether coaches exhorted them to get the ball swinging and what they understood that to mean, how they thought teammates carried out instructions, and whether they could have been unaware of the ball’s condition or how it was achieved. It also references Port Elizabeth, saying the ball “reversed all day in Port Elizabeth, with even Marsh bending it,” and asks what players thought was happening on those occasions.
The article recounts that on the day Smith and Bancroft lied in their press conference about using bat tape rather than sandpaper, CA cited that falsehood as a factor in the punishments it imposed while limiting its formal investigation to implicate only three players during one match. It says that, despite a full turnover at the top since that inquiry, CA continues to back the old review and quotes CEO Todd Greenberg: “I don’t think there’s anything that can be gained from it.” The piece also quotes the team’s coach at the time, Darren Lehmann, as saying on ABC Radio last week: “so many words, so little said.”
The article collects recent public lines from those involved: Starc’s remark, “we weren’t aware of things being taken on the field, that’s where I’ll leave it,” Warner’s endorsement of Khawaja with “It’s 100% accurate,” and Khawaja’s initial statement, “It was all of us,” followed by apparent reluctance to name individuals when pressed. Against that backdrop, the author argues that further obfuscation will not satisfy public interest.
The piece concludes by urging Cummins to end the matter through full disclosure about the former team environment and how team members made their choices, accepting that such candour will be uncomfortable. It states there is no further need for bans or punishment — “that stuff is done” — and insists the next step is transparency from the Australian captain so the episode can finally be put to rest.