Australia captain Pat Cummins has confirmed he discussed the upcoming autobiography of former teammate Usman Khawaja, maintaining he has no anxiety regarding any potential details about the 2018 Cape Town ball-tampering scandal. The pair, who appeared in 56 Tests together, spoke briefly when Khawaja informed him about the project. Cummins stated, “Uz gave me a buzz a few weeks back that he is releasing a book. 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.”
The release of the memoir in November arrives as Australia prepares for its first Test series in South Africa since the 2018 controversy. That incident saw Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft face bans for their roles in a plot to manipulate the ball. Following the event, the four Australian bowlers who played alongside them—including Cummins—consistently denied prior knowledge of the scheme. These four players, who issued a joint statement in 2021, are expected to feature together once more during the opening Test in Durban. The quartet, who released a joint statement about the episode in 2021, are once again set to be united in the first Test against South Africa in Durban.
Regarding the prospect of new claims, Cummins encouraged his former colleague to share his account. “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,” he said. He added that the team had long since moved on, emphasizing his current focus remains on leading the side.
The 2018 controversy remains a focal point in Australian cricket history. At that time, Smith explained that the plan was devised by the team’s “leadership group” on the third day of the Cape Town Test, the same day Bancroft was caught using sandpaper on the ball. While the three batters were punished, long-standing questions have persisted regarding how the bowlers—Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon—remained unaware of changes to the ball. In a 2021 interview, Bancroft suggested it was “pretty probably self-explanatory” when asked if the bowlers were aware of the tampering.
Khawaja, who played in all four Tests during the 2018 series and retired from international cricket this past January, has not publicly detailed the scope of his upcoming book. For now, the Australian leadership maintains that the matter was resolved years ago, leaving the squad to focus on the upcoming challenge in South Africa.
