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Khawaja is 100 per cent wrong: Pat Cummins responds to sandpaper revelations

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Cite

Gramenz, J., Howe, F., & Decent, T. (2026, November 12). Khawaja is 100 per cent wrong: Pat Cummins responds to sandpaper revelations. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/khawaja-is-100-per-cent-wrong-pat-cummins-responds-to-sandpaper-revelations-20261113-p61dvj.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-11-12 · by Jack Gramenz, Frances Howe, Tom Decent

Quick Summary

Australian Test captain Pat Cummins responded to claims by former batsman Usman Khawaja, who alleged that all players knew sandpaper was being used to rough up the ball during the 2018 tour of South Africa. Cummins stated that Khawaja is "100 per cent wrong" regarding his knowledge of the ball tampering and rejected the idea that he was an architect of such a scheme. While Cummins supported Khawaja's right to tell his story, he argued the former batsman is being vague and making "big leaps" about the specific details of the scandal.
Written by AI on 2026-11-14, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).
See how they differ ↓

AI analysis

Story summary

Pat Cummins, captain of the Australian cricket team, held a press conference on November 12, 2026, to deny Usman Khawaja's claims in Khawaja's newly published autobiography that he knew about the 2018 sandpaper scandal involving Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft. Cummins called Khawaja's claims "100% wrong" and "utter nonsense," expressing that Khawaja's casual approach to the allegations was not acceptable. The incident, which occurred during a Test match in Cape Town, South Africa, led to bans for Smith, Warner, and Bancroft, while other players like Cummins were not sanctioned. Cummins, who spoke for over an hour, said Khawaja was being "casual" with people's lives and reputations, indicating a personal and professional breach of trust. This controversy has reignited debate and scrutiny in Australian cricket, with Cummins expressing a desire to move past the scandal, but the issue continues to attract significant media attention and public discussion.

Written for “Sandpapergate Scandal Reignites” on 2026-11-15, grounded in this article and the 17 other(s) covering the same event.

How they differ

7 outlets covered “Sandpapergate Scandal Reignites”.

What each outlet says

One AI summary per outlet of its latest article on this story, written from that article alone and checked against it. Open the article for the outlet's own words.

Sydney Morning HeraldThis outlet12 Nov

Australian Test captain Pat Cummins responded to claims by former batsman Usman Khawaja, who alleged that all players knew sandpaper was being used to rough up the ball during the 2018 tour of South Africa. Cummins stated that Khawaja is "100 per cent wrong" regarding his knowledge of the ball tampering and rejected the idea that he was an architect of such a scheme. While Cummins supported Khawaja's right to tell…

Khawaja is 100 per cent wrong: Pat Cummins responds to sandpaper revelations (this article)9 articles from Sydney Morning Herald on this story
BBC13 Nov

This analysis explores the renewed scrutiny surrounding the 2018 "sandpapergate" ball-tampering scandal following the release of a memoir by former player Usman Khawaja. Khawaja claims the entire Australian team knew about the scheme to tamper with the ball during a Test match against South Africa in Cape Town, a plot that originally saw three players receive lengthy bans. Australian captain Pat Cummins faced…

Australian cricket's sandpapergate is back - and it cuts deep in a 'nation of good sports' →2 articles from BBC on this story
Dawn14 Nov

This analysis piece reports on the rekindled controversy surrounding the 2018 "Sandpapergate" ball-tampering scandal following the release of Usman Khawaja's autobiography. Khawaja claims the entire team knew about the plot to alter the ball during the Cape Town Test against South Africa, a claim Australian captain Pat Cummins vehemently denied during a 70-minute press conference on Friday. While figures like Justin…

Stench of ‘Sandpapergate’ set to linger as scandal reignites →2 articles from Dawn on this story
Al Jazeera13 Nov

Australia cricket captain Pat Cummins has denied allegations from former teammate Usman Khawaja linking him to the 2018 ball-tampering scandal. This news report details how Cummins rejected claims made in Khawaja's new book regarding the use of sandpaper during that event. Cummins stated he feels betrayed by the accusations and maintains he had no involvement in the scandal.

Australia captain Cummins denies involvement in ‘Sandpapergate’ →2 articles from Al Jazeera on this story
ABC News (AU)13 Nov

Pat Cummins held a passionate, hour-long press conference where he accused Usman Khawaja of being "casual" with people's lives and reputations. Cummins dismissed Khawaja's claims about the 2018 ball-tampering incident as "complete and utter nonsense." He also acknowledged witnessing ball tampering during Sheffield Shield matches but refused to provide further details.

Cummins hits out at Khawaja in passionate hour-long press conference →
Toronto Star13 Nov

Pat Cummins, Australia's cricket captain, dismissed as "utter nonsense" claims by former teammate Usman Khawaja that the entire team knew about using sandpaper to tamper with the ball during the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal. Cummins held a news conference in Sydney to address Khawaja's allegations, which were published in Khawaja's autobiography this week, ahead of Australia’s home season opener against England…

Australia cricket captain describes Khawaja's Sandpapergate claim as 'utter nonsense' →
Show 1 more outlets
Daily Mail13 Nov

Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins addressed the media in Sydney on Friday to refute claims of a marital row after being photographed in a heated discussion with his wife, Rebecca, outside their home. Cummins clarified that his wife was actually frustrated with former teammate Usman Khawaja, whose autobiography released on Tuesday sparked a new controversy regarding the 2018 "Sandpapergate" ball-tampering…

Pat Cummins reveals his wife urged him to 'be honest' about Sandpapergate after Usman Khawaja's bombshell claims: 'People are hurting' →

Where they agree and split

Framing

How the first headlines put it

A claim to check5
Stated as fact2
The headlines (7)

'Wrong' and 'nonsense' - Cummins on Khawaja sandpaper claims BBC · a claim to check

Australia cricket captain describes Khawaja's Sandpapergate claim as 'utter nonsense' Toronto Star · a claim to check

Pat Cummins reveals his wife urged him to 'be honest' about Sandpapergate after Usman Khawaja's bombshell claims: 'People are hurting' Daily Mail · a claim to check

'Utter nonsense', Australia skipper Cummins denies involvement in sandpaper plot Dawn · a claim to check

Australia captain Pat Cummins denies involvement in ‘Sandpapergate’ scandal Al Jazeera · a claim to check

Khawaja is 100 per cent wrong: Pat Cummins responds to sandpaper revelations Sydney Morning Herald · stated as fact

Cummins hits out at Khawaja in passionate hour-long press conference ABC News (Australia) · stated as fact

Words to watch (4)

WATCH LIVE: Pat Cummins says Usman Khawaja’s claims about 2018 sandpaper scandal ’100 per cent wrong’ in press conference Sydney Morning Herald

Pat Cummins reveals his wife urged him to 'be honest' about Sandpapergate after Usman Khawaja's bombshell claims: 'People are hurting' Daily Mail

Australia captain Pat Cummins denies involvement in ‘Sandpapergate’ scandal Al Jazeera

Stench of ‘Sandpapergate’ set to linger as scandal reignites Dawn

The full story: what happened, how it changed, and all 18 articles →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 12% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Dawn
Hedges 0 of 22 claims Outlet record 72/100
BBC News
Hedges 1 of 12 claims Outlet record 66/100
Toronto Star
Hedges 5 of 21 claims Outlet record 64/100
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 0 of 8 claims Outlet record 67/100
“Article A discusses Pat Cummins' response to Usman Khawaja's allegations about sandpaper being used in the 2018 South Africa tour, while Article B appears to be listing match scores and does not mention the sandpaper incident.”
Al Jazeera
Hedges 0 of 41 claims Outlet record 60/100
Dawn
Hedges 2 of 17 claims Outlet record 72/100
“The articles report on different reactions to the sandpaper scandal from different individuals at different times, rather than the same specific incident.”
Dawn
Hedges 1 of 25 claims Outlet record 72/100
“The articles describe responses to the same scandal but from different players at different times, not the same specific incident.”
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 1 of 4 claims Outlet record 67/100
BBC News
Hedges 6 of 47 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss Pat Cummins responding to the sandpaper scandal, ARTICLE A focuses on Cummins' statement that Khawaja is wrong, while ARTICLE B describes the context and setting of Cummins being interviewed by reporters about the scandal.”

Story

Sandpapergate Scandal Reignites
Sports · 18 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
17
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
12%
2 of 17 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
18
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-14 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Sydney Morning Herald · 7198 article(s) · 15 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 15 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Jack Gramenz
32 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
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2026-11-09 · assertive framing · Beaconsfield mine survivor Todd Russell dies aged 54
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2026-11-12 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Beaconsfield mine survivor Todd Russell dies aged 54
2026-11-09 · The Sydney Morning Herald
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2026-11-08 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 32 articles by Jack Gramenz →
Frances Howe
18 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
Cummins has repeatedly expressed his dismay at the flippancy he says Khawaja has shown towards his friends and Australian cricket in publishing the allegations in his book.
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Also by Frances Howe
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 18 articles by Frances Howe →
Tom Decent
30 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
But while Cummins may have won-over plenty of people with his performance, the fallout from Khawaja’s explosive new book, Sabr, is far from over.
Following the bruising TV interview on Tuesday night, Khawaja has informed his publisher, Penguin, that he will no longer participate in television or radio appearances as part of the publicity campaign for his book, Sabr.
Starc said he had not spoken to Khawaja “in the last day or two”, but when asked whether he would ever speak to him again, his response was telling.
“Everything you might have heard or read about what happened … in South Africa in the sandpaper controversy isn’t entirely true.
2026-11-10 · assertive framing · Revealed: What’s really in Usman Khawaja’s book
Obviously, the crowds weren’t as hostile [recently in South Africa], maybe as what people expected, but that stuff’s still there every day – at airports, and the general public making comments here and there.
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Also by Tom Decent
Revealed: What’s really in Usman Khawaja’s book
2026-11-10 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 30 articles by Tom Decent →

Topics

Australia Australian Cape Town South Africa Test

Subjects

Khawaja PERSON · 8× Cummins PERSON · 6× Australia GPE · 1× Australian NORP · 1× Cameron Bancroft PERSON · 1× Cape Town GPE · 1× Pat Cummins PERSON · 1× South Africa GPE · 1× Test ORG · 1× Usman Khawaja PERSON · 1×

Narrative

When Cameron Bancroft was captured on camera putting a piece of sandpaper in his pants during the 2018 Test in Cape Town, Cummins was 24, playing his 13th Test “in a team that at that stage I think had a win at all cost mentality, had an ugly underbelly, and there was too many silos within the team,” Cummins said. “Traits that I hope that everyone’s seen, and I tried very hard to eradicate for the last six years as captain.”
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-14
2026-11-14 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Khawaja is 100 per cent wrong: Pat Cummins responds to sandpaper revelations · assertive framing

Claims (17 extracted, 2 hedged)

Australia’s Test cricket captain Pat Cummins says Usman Khawaja is “100 per cent wrong” to say bowlers knew sandpaper was being used to rough up the ball during matches on the tour of South Africa in 2018. asserted
sandpaper → say → 2018
Former Test batsman Khawaja this week alleged “all of us” knew sandpaper was being used to rough up the ball during the 2018 tour, despite several players, notably the bowlers, having denied this in one of the biggest scandals in Australian cricketing history. asserted
players → allege → history
Cummins said on Friday he’s taken his time “trying to understand exactly what” Khawaja has alleged, saying some of his claims are “probably true” uncertain
some → say → claims
“But I think there’s a few big leaps here, where he’s being vague … asserted
he → think → ?
the details really matter,” he said. asserted
he → matter → ?
“When he says we all knew, if by that he means that we knew sandpaper was going out in the field, he’s 100 per cent wrong. asserted
he → say → field
“I did not know that was happening.” asserted
that → know → ?
“[Khawaja] says that I and others were architects of a scheme to ball tamper with sandpaper. asserted
I → say → sandpaper
That’s complete and utter nonsense.” asserted
That → ’ → ?
Cummins said he supported Khawaja’s “right to tell a story” and described Khawaja as a friend. asserted
he → say → friend
When Cameron Bancroft was captured on camera putting a piece of sandpaper in his pants during the 2018 Test in Cape Town, Cummins was 24, playing his 13th Test “in a team that at that stage I think had a win at all cost mentality, had an ugly underbelly, and there was too many silos within the team,” Cummins said. “Traits that I hope that everyone’s seen, and I tried very hard to eradicate for the last six years as captain.” asserted
I → capture → captain
Following Khawaja’s claims, a key figure involved in a player review after the scandal subsequently called on Cricket Australia to reopen an investigation into the use of sandpaper in 2018. uncertain
figure → follow → 2018
David Warner, vice-captain at the time and one of three players suspended over the incident, described Khawaja’s version of events as 100 per cent accurate. asserted
Warner → suspend → events
Interest in the scandal’s resurgence this week has only grown as the days went on. asserted
days → grow → resurgence
The media turnout for Cummins on Friday was on par with press conferences held in the immediate wake of the scandal by then-captain Steve Smith and Warner. asserted
turnout → hold → Smith
Khawaja pulled out of interviews earlier this week after a bruising appearance on the ABC’s 7.30 on Tuesday night, when he refused to answer numerous questions, including what knowledge the now-captain Cummins had about sandpaper being used. asserted
Cummins → pull → sandpaper
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Friday. asserted
News → send → sport
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