NEW DELHI: Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins has been spotted having what appeared to be a heated conversation with his wife, Becky, on a Sydney street.The incident marks his first public appearance since former Australian batter Usman Khawaja made fresh claims about the infamous 2018 ball-tampering scandal, also known as “Sandpaper-gate”.According to footage published by The Australian on Wednesday, Cummins and Becky were seen having an animated discussion before heading inside a nearby property.Cummins, dressed casually in a T-shirt and shorts, appeared to remain relatively quiet during the exchange.The Australian captain is currently resting from the country’s two white-ball series against England as he prepares for four upcoming Test matches against New Zealand.
Fresh claims bring Sandpaper scandal back into focus
The incident comes amid renewed controversy after Khawaja claimed that the entire Australian dressing room knew about the plan to tamper with the ball during the 2018 Test series in South Africa. Former opener David Warner, who was also involved in the scandal, has supported Khawaja’s claims.In his autobiography Sabr, released on Tuesday, Khawaja shared his account of the events that resulted in Cricket Australia suspending Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.When asked about the possibility of Khawaja revealing details that differed from the findings of the official investigation, Cummins had earlier said:“It’s obviously a long time ago. All the investigations, everything was done back then. Answered every question a million times,” Cummins said.“It was dealt with then, all I can say is as a group we’ve moved on. Very happy with the last eight or nine years, how we’ve been as a group and evolved. He didn’t go into too much detail . . . As always it was ‘no worries, you can tell your story, that’s fine’.”
Khawaja refuses to reveal more details
Khawaja has since cancelled his remaining media appearances for the book after facing tough questions on ABC’s 7.30 program. During the interview, he was asked whether he was upset that the bowlers had not admitted knowing about the plan to rough up the ball using sandpaper.“I’ll say again, I’ve given my statement about what happened the game before,” Khawaja said.“I was very open and honest to what I saw and what conversations I had. Sometimes I’m very specific on things, and sometimes I’m a bit vague on things, and I do it on purpose because I’m trying to tell a story.”When questioned further about the bowlers’ involvement, he refused to comment.“I’m just not going … I’m not going to entertain that,” Khawaja said. “I’m not going to really speak on any more of it at this moment.”
