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Cummins to face 'Sandpapergate' grilling on Friday

Pat Cummins bowling during Australia's recent tour of South Africa.
Pat Cummins bowling during Australia's recent tour of South Africa.GALLO IMAGES / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP

Australia Test captain Pat Cummins has called a press conference for 9:30am local time in Sydney on Friday morning to break his silence following Usman Khawaja's explosive claims about the 2018 sandpaper incident in South Africa.

Cummins is yet to make a public statement since the publication of Khawaja's new book, Sabr, which spends 20 pages addressing the so-called 'Sandpapergate' incident of 2018 in which Australia was found guilty of ball tampering. 

Cameron Bancroft, David Warner and Steve Smith all faced lengthy bans from the sport, imposed by Cricket Australia, after being found responsible for the cheating. 

Khawaja claimed last week, whilst promoting the launch of his book on a media tour, that more squad members knew of the plot to tamper with the ball on the tour of South Africa and called for all players to take a collective responsibility. 

Mitchell Starc was the only member of Australia's famous bowling quartet to have made public comment as of Wednesday night, having been questioned at a Kayo Sports launch event in Sydney, where he reiterated a joint statement made by the bowlers in 2021 denying all knowledge of the incident. 

Cummins announced that he will front the media on Friday to answer questions, of which he is sure to face many from a big media pack.

"I'm training at Cricket Central tomorrow morning before the Blues play in the Shield match," Cummins posted on Instagram.

"Happy to speak with any and all media about the events of this week," Cummins posted on Instagram on Thursday.

"I've taken some time to try and better understand the long list and full extent of Uzzy's so I can respond properly."

Aaron Murphy has been with Flashscore since 2018 and, as the founding editor of the Australian newsdesk, has reported on-site at several major events in Melbourne including the Australian Open, State of Origin, A-League, NBL and international cricket. You can read his pieces here and contact him on X or LinkedIn. 

Aaron Murphy
Aaron MurphyFlashscore
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