SandpaperGate: Thrown under the bus says Warner as Cummins rejects Khawaja version

This is a fresh disagreement between two senior Australian cricketers, Pat Cummins and Usman Khawaja, over the 2018 Australian ball-tampering scandal in South Africa, commonly known as Sandpapergate.

Cummins strongly rejected Khawaja’s claims that knowledge of Australia’s 2018 ball-tampering scandal extended beyond Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft.

Sandpapergate erupted during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town when television cameras caught Bancroft using sandpaper to alter the ball. Smith and Warner were subsequently handed 12-month suspensions, while Bancroft received a nine-month ban.

Khawaja recently suggested that more members of the Australian squad were aware of the plot, raising fresh questions about the extent of the team's involvement.

Cummins dismissed Khawaja’s allegations as "complete and utter nonsense," accusing his teammate of being "casual with the reputations and lives of fellow cricketers." The Australian captain insists he had no prior knowledge of the operation and flatly rejects any suggestion that the wider bowling attack was complicit.

Warner backed Khawaja’s version of events, creating a rare public rift among the former teammates. The disagreement has reopened one of the darkest chapters in Australian cricket, leaving a lingering question over how much the broader squad truly knew.

Nov 2026