Marsh refuses to revisit 2018 sandpapergate at Thursday press conference as Cummins vows to 'respond properly'

Mitchell Marsh repeatedly declined to discuss Australia's 2018 ball-tampering scandal at a news conference on Thursday ahead of the one-day series with England, while captain Pat Cummins said he will "respond properly" after reviewing the allegations.

Marsh, 35, was Australia's bowler when the incident first came to light in the 2018 Cape Town Test and played in all four Tests of the 2018 series between South Africa and Australia. He is standing in for Cummins as 50-over captain for the upcoming series against England. The issue was returned to the spotlight by Usman Khawaja's autobiography, and Cummins and Cricket Australia announced an impromptu news conference for Friday morning (22:30 Thursday GMT).

When pressed about "sandpapergate" following the book's release, Marsh repeatedly declined to relive the episode, saying: "I'm not here to go back on my recollections of South Africa." He added: "This is my choice not to go back there." Marsh also said: "Who knows maybe I will write a book one day."

Marsh outlined his reasons for not speaking in fuller remarks, saying: "There's been a lot of noise around this week and I respect that certain people have told their stories, but I'm not here to share mine today." He added: "I know that might sound weird, but it's a big week for us and an important time for this one-day group, and my sole focus has been on preparing for tomorrow." Asked why he did not want to share further details, he said: "My honest answer is because I've moved on, I respect that others probably haven't, but I have. And I hope that's respected."

Cummins said on social media he was "Happy to speak with any and all media about the events of this week," and added: "I've taken some time to try and better understand the long list and full extent of Uzzy's allegations so I can respond properly."

Cricket Australia's interim chair, former batter David Boon, publicly backed Cummins on Thursday, telling newspaper The Australian: "We absolutely support Pat. He's been an exemplary captain, he's led the team with integrity and very successfully over the period of time that he's been captain, so there's no question of our confidence in him continuing on in that fact." Cummins has not yet spoken since Khawaja's book was released.

Much of the subsequent discussion has centred on whether Cummins and fellow bowlers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon were aware of any plan to use sandpaper on the ball; the four released a joint statement in 2021 saying they "did not know a foreign substance was taken on to the field." In his book Khawaja wrote "it was all of us" and called for collective responsibility, saying there had been a discussion about using sandpaper to rough up the ball and promote reverse swing during the previous Test.

The debate has overshadowed the build-up to the three-match one-day international series between Australia and England, which begins at 03:30 GMT on Friday. England captain Harry Brook said he "hasn't seen any" of the debate and added: "Obviously I have heard some conversations but we weren't in that dressing room, we have no idea what happened, we are out here now and have a good challenge against Australia. We are just trying to focus on ourselves."