DURBAN: Australia captain Pat Cummins said on Thursday that he has no concerns about possible revelations concerning the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in Usman Khawaja’s upcoming autobiography.
Khawaja contacted him a few weeks ago to flag the book’s release. However, Cummins said his former teammate offered little detail about its contents. “Tell your story. It’s fine,” Cummins said.
He argued that the investigations had already addressed questions about the scandal. Instead, he wanted to concentrate on leading Australia and the team’s progress since that tour.
Khawaja’s autobiography, “Sabr”, is due in November. The former Australia batter retired from international cricket in January.
During the third Test in Cape Town, Cameron Bancroft used sandpaper to alter the ball. Captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner, and Bancroft were subsequently banned for their roles.
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Meanwhile, Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon have consistently denied knowing about the plan beforehand. In a joint statement in 2021, they maintained that they learned about it after seeing images on the stadium screen.
Those four bowlers are expected to reunite for the series opener. With all-rounder Cameron Green unavailable through injury, Australia face a middle-order selection choice between Cooper Connolly and Nic Maddinson.
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South Africa have selected spinners Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer in their starting side. Australia begin their first Test series in South Africa since the scandal on Friday in Durban.
