Cummins confirms Khawaja book call and says Australia have moved on from 2018

Australia captain Pat Cummins has confirmed that Usman Khawaja contacted him about his forthcoming autobiography, saying he has no concerns about his former team-mate telling his story. BBC Sport reported the comments on Thursday as questions about the 2018 ball-tampering scandal resurfaced during Australia's return to South Africa for Test cricket.

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Cummins said Khawaja called several weeks earlier but did not provide much detail about the book. The former Australia opener retired from international cricket in January and his autobiography is due in November. He played in all four Tests of the 2018 South Africa series, including the match at Cape Town where the scandal unfolded.

In that Test, Cameron Bancroft was filmed using sandpaper on the ball. Captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Bancroft were subsequently suspended. AAP reported that Smith and Warner received bans of 12 months, while Bancroft was banned for nine months. The episode remains a significant part of the background to Australia's first Test tour of South Africa since then.

According to AAP, Cricket Australia's investigation found that no other player knew about the plan to use sandpaper. The agency also reported that there was no suggestion Khawaja's book would contradict those findings. How extensively the autobiography will address the incident remains unknown; Cummins directed questions about its contents to Khawaja rather than offering an account of what it contains.

BBC Sport recalled that Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon issued a joint statement in 2021 denying prior knowledge. The four bowlers said they learned that a foreign substance had been taken onto the field only after seeing footage on the stadium screen. Their statement also noted that the umpires inspected the ball and did not replace it.

Cummins told reporters the investigations had already addressed the episode and said the team had changed in the intervening years. AAP reported that he expressed pride in the current group's conduct and approach to playing. His response focused on those changes and Khawaja's right to describe his own experiences, without claiming advance knowledge of the autobiography.