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

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Cite

Howe, F. (2026, November 12). WATCH LIVE: Pat Cummins says Usman Khawaja’s claims about 2018 sandpaper scandal ’100 per cent wrong’ in press conference. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/pat-cummins-press-conference-live-updates-australian-cricket-captain-to-front-media-amid-sandpaper-revelations-in-usman-khawaja-s-book-20261113-p61dv7.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 Frances Howe analysis

Quick Summary

Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins addressed Usman Khawaja’s recent book revelations regarding the 2018 sandpaper scandal, stating that Khawaja’s claims about the team's actions are "100 per cent wrong." Cummins denied there was a "master plan" for using illegal methods, clarified that while sandpaper is common in dressing rooms, he was unaware of it being taken onto the pitch, and confirmed he will not pursue legal action despite receiving advice that some claims may be defamatory. The report highlights Cummins' personal frustration with Khawaja's "flippant" attitude toward his friends and emphasizes the captain's desire to move on from the incident which occurred eight and a half years ago.
Written by AI on 2026-11-13, from this article's own text only.

AI analysis

Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 149511 · logged 2026-11-13

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
61
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
3%
2 of 61 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
unclustered
not grouped into a story yet
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-13 · 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 · 6974 article(s) · 15 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 15 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Frances Howe
16 article(s) here · 1 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 16 articles by Frances Howe →

Topics

Australia Australian Sandpapergate Usman

Subjects

Cummins PERSON · 10× Usman PERSON · 7× Australian NORP · 2× Becky PERSON · 2× Cam PERSON · 2× Khawaja PERSON · 2× Pat Cummins PERSON · 2× Australia GPE · 1× Rebecca PERSON · 1× Sandpapergate ORG · 1×

Narrative

“Usman is a friend, but I think the way he’s kind of been quite casual and flippant with people’s lives in Australia, I don’t think that’s okay and I don’t think that’s what friends do.”
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-13
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.

Claims (61 extracted, 2 hedged)

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. asserted
Khawaja → express → book
“It’s something I’ve been grappling with the last couple of days,” he said. asserted
he → ’ → days
“Usman is a friend, but I think the way he’s kind of been quite casual and flippant with people’s lives in Australia, I don’t think that’s okay and I don’t think that’s what friends do.” asserted
friends → think → what
“So, that’s what I’m thinking through at the moment. asserted
I → ’ → moment
I don’t know why it’s taken Usman so long. asserted
it → know → Usman
Again, it’s only this week as a revelation to me that he knew what was going on, that he was sitting next to Cam and that he told Cam to be careful. asserted
he → ’ → Cam
So, maybe he’s been grappling with that for eight years and that’s a reason he didn’t come out in the investigation at the time? asserted
he → grapple → time
Perhaps, I don’t know, that’s the reason.” asserted
that → know → ?
Pat Cummins said he will not pursue legal action over Sandpapergate claims. uncertain
he → say → claims
“I did get advise this week that some of the things that have been said are probably defamatory, but I won’t be doing that,” he said. asserted
he → get → that
“Like, you’ve got to move on. asserted
you → get → ?
It’s been eight years, I keep saying we’re moving on, so you’ve got to draw a line at some point. asserted
you → say → point
So no, I won’t be doing anything.” asserted
I → do → anything
Pat Cummins was filmed in an animated conversation with his wife, Rebecca, outside their house this week. asserted
Cummins → film → house
“It’s… very comical. asserted
It → ’ → ?
Becky wears her heart on her sleeve,” Cummins said. asserted
Cummins → wear → sleeve
“We weren’t having a spat. asserted
We → have → spat
On being filmed, Cummins said: “It’s all a bit ridiculous, isn’t it? asserted
it → film → ?
Like we’re here talking about something that was dealt with eight and a half years ago. asserted
that → ’re → something
Now I’m walking my daughter, one-year-old daughter in a nappy out the front, and I’ve got cameras chasing me and my family. asserted
cameras → walk → me
Like, for me, that’s a bit ridiculous.” asserted
that → ’ → me
“There was no master plan around using illegal methods,” Cummins said. asserted
Cummins → be → methods
“I think that’s maybe something that hasn’t been spoken about enough. asserted
that → think → ?
“People assume you’ve gone from very legal methods to suddenly taking sandpaper, and there must have been some huge master plan ... like the truth, that is not the case. asserted
that → assume → truth
There’s no bowlers saying, ‘this is what must happen’.” asserted
what → ’ → ?
Cummins said it is normal to see sandpaper in the dressing room, but he stresses that’s different from it being brought onto a pitch. asserted
it → say → pitch
“It’s a very normal thing around the dressing room,” he said. asserted
he → ’ → room
“We can go into more depth around that. asserted
We → go → that
But to then take the leap to say we’re going to use this to affect the playing ball out in the middle. asserted
we → take → middle
Cummins has said he did not know if there were more than three people who knew about the sandpaper, as had been said at the time. asserted
who → say → time
“If we’re talking about taking sandpaper out in the front, all I can say is I did not know that that was happening,” Cummins said. asserted
Cummins → talk → front
“I’m not sure if there was more than those three, but I did not know.” asserted
I → ’m → three
He also said it’s not obvious whether a ball has been tampered with. asserted
ball → say → ?
“At that stage, you know, even the umpires had a look. asserted
umpires → know → look
We didn’t know it had been altered with sandpaper,” Cummins said. asserted
Cummins → know → sandpaper
“But reverse swings, very normal balls get roughened up every time we play. asserted
we → roughen → ?
So whether that’s from a foreign object or something that’s totally legal and part of the game, sometimes it’s hard to know. asserted
it → ’ → game
But out there in the field, I did not see anything on the ball.” asserted
I → see → ball
Cummins has said Khawaja was casual with his friends’ reputations when publishing the allegations in Sabr. asserted
Khawaja → say → Sabr
“I think Usman actually says things that are actually far more serious than that [everyone knew],” Cummins said. asserted
Cummins → think → that
…and 21 more, not listed.
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