Pat Cummins unfazed by Khawaja memoir on 2018 sandpaper controversy

Australia captain Pat Cummins said in Durban, ahead of Friday’s first Test, that he is unfazed by the prospect of Usman Khawaja addressing the 2018 sandpaper scandal in Khawaja’s forthcoming autobiography, which is due next month. Cummins confirmed Khawaja had phoned to inform him he was writing the book.

Khawaja’s memoir will be the first from any Australian player who took part in the 2018 Cape Town Test and is being published days after the conclusion of Australia’s first Test tour of South Africa since that match. How much detail the book will contain about the ball-tampering incident remains unclear, and the book has been written without a ghost writer; there is no suggestion in advance that Khawaja will contradict the findings of past investigations.

Khawaja is described in reporting as a childhood friend of David Warner; Warner received a 12-month ban related to the ball-tampering scandal. The incident also led to a one-year suspension for Steve Smith and a nine-month suspension for Cameron Bancroft.

There was a report at the time that Khawaja had suggested the team should take joint responsibility for the episode rather than limiting blame to three players, but a Cricket Australia investigation concluded no other player had knowledge of the plan to apply sandpaper to the ball. Australia’s bowlers previously issued a statement denying their knowledge that "a foreign substance" would be taken onto the field.

Asked whether Khawaja had told him how much detail he would include and whether he would agree with his former teammates’ accounts, Cummins replied: "You would have to ask him." He added: "It’s obviously a long time ago. All the investigations, everything was done back then. Answered every question a million times." Cummins also said: "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’."

Cummins noted an unusually large media presence in Durban ahead of the first Test and described the match-up as a contest between the world’s top-two sides. He reflected on the intensity of the 2018 series, saying: "It was quite a big series that 2018, it was pretty full on," and added: "After that, I think pretty much every Test team in the world felt like they’d made some adjustments." He finished by saying: "This group is quite a different group in how we approach playing, and I’m really proud of how the guys have been since that 2018 series."

Australia will play the first Test in Durban on Friday, with Khawaja’s autobiography due to be published next month, days after the tour concludes.