Australian captain Pat Cummins has expressed his composure regarding potential Sandpapergate revelations that may emerge in Usman Khawaja’s forthcoming autobiography. Khawaja, who was part of Australia’s squad during the 2018 Cape Town Test when the ball-tampering scandal occurred, has written a dedicated chapter on the incident in his memoir. Both players were present during that pivotal moment in Australian cricket history, which led to significant consequences for the team, including Steven Smith stepping down as captain and David Warner relinquishing his vice-captaincy.
Cummins acknowledged that Khawaja had informed him about the book’s contents weeks before the squad’s departure for South Africa. Khawaja personally briefed Cummins and Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg in Brisbane regarding the dedicated chapter on Sandpapergate before the team travelled. The autobiography, titled Sabr: Finding My Way in Cricket and Life, is scheduled for release on November 3, 2026. Khawaja wrote the memoir entirely himself without the assistance of a ghostwriter, making it the first autobiography from any Australian player who participated in the 2018 Cape Town Test.
“Yeah, Uz gave me a buzz a few weeks back, [saying] that he’s releasing a book,” Cummins said.
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Cummins has maintained that he has addressed Sandpapergate questions extensively over the years and remains unfazed by any new revelations. The Australian captain stressed that all investigations into the incident were completed long ago and the matter was thoroughly dealt with at that time. He emphasised that his focus remains on the present and future of Australian cricket.
“I’m not too sure. You’ll need to ask him. It was obviously a long time ago,” Cummins said.
“All the investigations and everything was done back then. I answered every question a million times. It was dealt with then,” he added.
The Australian team has moved forward significantly since the scandal and Cummins expressed satisfaction with the group’s evolution over the past eight and a half years. He reiterated that the squad has collectively moved on from the incident and is focused on performing well in international cricket. Beyond the Sandpapergate chapter, Khawaja’s autobiography also covers other significant moments in his career, including his 2023 shoe controversy during Pakistan’s series when he wore footwear bearing a message related to Gaza.
“All I can say is [that] as a group, we’ve moved on. [I am] very happy with the last eight or nine years, how we’ve been as a group and evolved, and obviously my focus is on captaining the cricket team,” Cummins said.
