Australia captain Pat Cummins has dismissed Usman Khawaja’s allegation — made in his upcoming autobiography Sabr — that the entire Australian XI for the Cape Town Test in 2018 knew about the use of sandpaper calling the claim ‘100% wrong’ and ‘complete and utter nonsense’. Addressing a press conference at Cricket Central in Sydney early on Friday morning, Cummins said he personally was not aware that his teammates were using sandpaper to scuff up one side of the ball.“When Usman says that we all knew… if by that he means that we knew sandpaper was going out in the field, he’s 100 per cent wrong. I’ve said that consistently for the last eight years. I did not know that was happening, but I think Usman actually says things that are actually far more serious than that. He says that I and others were architects of a scheme to ball-tamper with sandpaper. That’s complete and utter nonsense,” Cummins said when addressing the media.Cummins continued: “I was genuinely shocked this week when I found out that Usman admitted that he told Cam (Cameron Bancroft) to be careful when using sandpaper. That’s not the Usman that I know. It’s not the Usman that I think that has been part of a team that’s helped rebuild the Australian cricket culture over the last eight years, (which) would have stopped that from happening there. Usman was a friend, but friends aren’t casual with each other’s lives and reputations.”Cummins was a young 24-year-old player in the Australian team at the time of the incident.“Did I know sandpaper was ever going to be taken on the field? No, never. Was it ever going to be used? No. Out in the field? No.”When Cummins was asked by a reporter whose version was true, he said: “That’s my story. So I think he’s wrong… I love Australian cricket. It’s given me so much. This really affects Australian cricket. And I think (Usman)… the way that he’s presented his story, I think he’s done that in a very casual manner. It affects a lot of people, and that’s what I’m grappling with at the moment because I don’t think it’s okay.” Usman Khawaja during the 7.30 Report show on ABC. (Screengrab)Cummins also shot down claims that Khawaja made that to be the Australian captain, you had to be a “certain skin colour”.Story continues below this ad“Of all things I’ve read this week, I think that’s the most serious,” Cummins said. “To think the job I hold is quarantined from people based on skin colour, that’s a big statement. To say that, I think you’ve got to have evidence. I just don’t think that’s the case. I agree with Uzzie on a lot of things, but when I disagree, I’ll tell him. Him saying to be Australian captain you have to be a certain skin colour, I couldn’t disagree more.”Khawaja’s upcoming book has opened a fresh can of worms about the Sandpaper Gate controversy about the Cape Town Test in 2018, where Bancroft was caught by TV cameras for the local South African broadcaster roughing up the ball with sandpaper hidden in his pants. The ensuing controversy had led to the harshest penalties ever imposed for ball tampering in international cricket. While Bancroft was suspended by Cricket Australia for nine months, then captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner, were suspended from all cricket for a year.Cummins said that the sanctions which were slapped on Smith, Warner and Bancroft after an investigation by Cricket Australia were “way too heavy-handed”.“I think the intentions might be sound, and if we’re talking about how they were sanctioned and the justice, my personal opinion is it was way too heavy-handed. It was way over the top. I think that’s okay to say. But to then extrapolate that out into everyone else knew… that’s a huge extrapolation and very different to what I think was injustice,” said Cummins who went on to add: “Ball tampering was prevalent. You hear stories of other teams doing it, and when there were instances of people getting caught, it was a slap on the wrist — a small fine, demerit points, whatever.”Story continues below this adFor the past eight years, Cricket Australia and other players have rejected claims that everyone in the team was in on the plot to use sandpaper. However, Khawaja’s claims got support from Warner, who posted a video on his Instagram handle on Monday saying: “It’s 100% accurate what you’ve said. Now everyone knows the truth. It’s out there. People wanted to know it. You’ve come out and said it.” Australia’s Usman Khawaja leaves the ground after losing his wicket during day two of the first test cricket match between Sri Lanka and Australia in Galle, Sri Lanka, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo)Talking about the insinuation that the entire team was involved in ball tampering, Cummins said: “There was no master plan around using illegal methods. I think that’s maybe something that hasn’t been spoken about enough. People assume you have gone from very legal methods to suddenly taking sandpaper and then there must have been some huge master plan. That is not the case. There’s no grand plan, there’s no team meeting, there’s no bowlers saying ‘this is what must happen’.”Cummins also explained that the way the Cape Town stadium’s dressing room was structured, it would not have been possible for everyone to be on the ploy to use sandpaper. He said the dressing room was a collection of change rooms, showers, dining rooms, viewing balconies, and other ‘nooks and crannies’, which would have given plenty of opportunity for players to have their own private conversations.Cummins claimed that the only time he had seen a ball being tampered was at the Shield cricket level.