Pat Cummins has made it clear that he has no concerns about what Usman Khawaja may reveal in his upcoming autobiography, despite renewed speculation that the book could revisit one of the darkest episodes in Australian cricket.
Australia captain Pat Cummins confirmed that Khawaja contacted him before the release of the book, which is expected in November. However, Cummins insists the infamous 2018 ball-tampering scandal has already been investigated and discussed extensively, and that the Australian team has long since moved on.
The timing has inevitably attracted attention. Australia are preparing to face South Africa in Durban in their first Test series there since the Cape Town Test of 2018, the match that became synonymous with Sandpapergate.
Cummins was part of Australia’s bowling attack in that match, alongside Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon. All four bowlers have consistently denied knowing about the plan to use sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball.
Speaking ahead of the Durban Test, Cummins said Khawaja had given him a warning about the upcoming book but did not provide him with extensive details.
“He didn’t go into too much detail, just basically gave me the heads-up that he is doing a book,” Cummins said. “Tell your story. It’s fine.”
The Australia captain believes there is little reason for the team to be worried about another examination of events that happened more than eight years ago.
“It was dealt with then and all I can say is that as a group, we have moved on,” Cummins said.
Why Khawaja’s book has brought Sandpapergate back into focus
Sandpapergate remains one of the most discussed scandals in modern cricket because several questions surrounding the incident have never completely disappeared.
During the third Test between South Africa and Australia at Newlands in March 2018, Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera using a piece of sandpaper on the ball. The incident quickly escalated into one of the biggest crises Australian cricket had faced.
Then captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Bancroft were ultimately punished for their roles. Smith and Warner received 12-month bans, while Bancroft was suspended for nine months.
Smith later explained that the plan had been discussed by the team’s so-called “leadership group”. Cricket Australia’s investigation focused on the three players who were directly involved, and the Australian bowling group maintained that they had no prior knowledge of what was happening.
That particular question resurfaced in 2021 when Bancroft was interviewed by The Guardian. Asked whether Australia’s bowlers knew about the ball-tampering plan, Bancroft suggested that the answer was “self-explanatory”.
Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon responded by issuing a joint statement. They again insisted they had not known a foreign substance had been taken onto the field until they saw the television images at Newlands.
The four bowlers also pointed out that the umpires inspected the ball after the television footage emerged but did not change it because there was no obvious evidence of damage.
Their position has remained unchanged since then.
Khawaja could offer another perspective
Khawaja is in a different position from the players who were directly punished.
He was part of Australia’s Test squad during the 2018 tour and played all four Tests on that South African trip. He has also remained close to several of the players involved, including David Warner.
Reports in Australia have indicated that Khawaja recently spoke with Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg as well as Cummins about his forthcoming autobiography, titled Sabr. The details of what the book contains have not been fully revealed.
That has naturally created interest around the Sandpapergate section.
However, it would be premature to assume that the book will contain a definitive new version of what happened. At this stage, the precise details of Khawaja’s account have not been publicly disclosed.
That distinction is important because the scandal has generated years of speculation, particularly around what Australia’s bowlers knew and when they knew it.
Cummins, for his part, appears comfortable with Khawaja telling his own story.
The Australian captain said the team has spent years answering questions about the incident and that his attention is now firmly on leading Australia.
“We are very happy with the last eight to nine years how we have been as a group and evolved,” Cummins said.
Starc has already asked what is left to reveal
Cummins is not the only Australian player to dismiss the idea that Sandpapergate could contain many more secrets.
Mitchell Starc recently made a pointed reference to the scandal when discussing the possibility of further revelations.
“What’s left to come out after eight years?” Starc said.
That comment underlines the frustration within the group. For the four bowlers involved, the issue has repeatedly resurfaced despite their public denials and the conclusions of the investigations at the time.
The controversy nevertheless continues to attract attention whenever Australia return to South Africa.
This year’s series has therefore been presented as something of a chance for the current Australian generation to create a completely different chapter.
The bowling attack remains remarkably familiar. Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon are all still central figures, meaning four players who experienced the Newlands fallout are preparing to return to the country together.
But the Australian side itself has changed considerably.
Cummins has become captain, the team’s culture has evolved, and several of the players who were at the centre of the 2018 crisis have either retired or moved on from international cricket.
Australia’s return to South Africa is consequently about much more than an old scandal.
Australia face a major Test challenge in Durban
The first Test at Kingsmead also presents a significant cricketing challenge.
South Africa have selected two frontline spinners, Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer, with conditions expected to offer turn as the match develops. Kagiso Rabada will miss the opening Test as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury, while Anrich Nortje is set to return to Test cricket after a lengthy absence.
Australia also have selection questions to answer.
Cameron Green is expected to miss the opening Test because of injury, leaving Cooper Connolly and Nic Maddinson competing for a middle-order position. Connolly represents youth and potential, while Maddinson brings considerably more experience.
The series is also important in the wider World Test Championship picture. South Africa famously defeated Australia in the 2025 World Test Championship final at Lord’s, giving this contest an additional edge before the first ball is bowled.
Simon Harmer has suggested that the intensity between the two teams has changed since the events of 2018, partly because modern franchise cricket has seen international players regularly become teammates around the world.
For Cummins, however, the message is straightforward: the past is the past.
Whether Khawaja’s autobiography changes that remains to be seen.
For now, Australia’s captain appears relaxed about the possibility of new stories emerging from Cape Town. His priority is the Test series in front of him, not reopening an investigation that has dominated Australian cricket conversations for years.
The irony is that Australia’s return to South Africa has ensured that Sandpapergate was always going to be part of the conversation.
Khawaja’s book has simply added another layer to it.
The real test will come on the field in Durban, where Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon will once again take the field together — eight years after their names became permanently linked with one of Australian cricket’s most infamous chapters.
For Australian cricket, the hope will be that the story finally moves from the headlines to the history books.
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