Santa Clara (TIP): Former Australia opener David Warner has hit back at Pat Cummins after the Australia captain rejected Usman Khawaja’s revelations about the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, accusing him of throwing his former teammate under the bus. Warner said he stood firmly by Khawaja’s account of the infamous Sandpapergate episode and was disappointed with Cummins’ public response.
Speaking on Fox Cricket ahead of Australia’s first ODI against England, Warner said Khawaja had told the truth in his autobiography, Sabr, and deserved support rather than criticism. “I still stick by Uzzy, and what he’s written in that book, because it is the truth, and I really, really support him,” Warner said.
“I actually feel for him at the moment. I actually feel that today, the captain threw Uzzy under the bus, and I’m very, very disappointed about that.”
Warner’s comments came after Cummins addressed the controversy in an hour-long press conference, strongly rejecting Khawaja’s claims about the extent of the Australian team’s knowledge of the ball-tampering episode during the 2018 Cape Town Test against South Africa.
“If by that he means that we knew sandpaper was going out in the field, he’s 100 per cent wrong. I’ve said that consistently for the last eight years. I did not know that was happening,” Cummins said.
The Australia captain also took issue with Khawaja’s suggestion that he and other members of the team were architects of a plan to alter the condition of the ball.
“That’s complete and utter nonsense,” Cummins said, adding that he was disappointed with the way Khawaja had handled the revelations.
Cummins said the book had been casual with his life and the reputations of others, and questioned why Khawaja had not intervened when he allegedly knew that sandpaper was being used. He also said the revelations had reopened a painful chapter for those involved.
Warner, however, believes the consequences of the scandal have continued to follow the three players who were punished by Cricket Australia. Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft were handed suspensions of varying lengths after the incident, with Warner and Smith receiving 12-month bans and Bancroft being suspended for nine months.
“All three of us have paid a big price in this thing. I hadn’t spoken about it in eight years, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to live with these consequences daily. We’ve been served a life punishment,” Warner said.
The former opener said the focus on the three players had overlooked the emotional and personal cost they had endured since the scandal.
“When other people talk about how they’ve been affected by it, there’s nothing worse for me, Steve and Cam, who have to walk out there every day and we cop abuse.
“Yes, we accepted it, but at the end of the day, my wife and I paid the greatest price. We lost a baby during that time. That’s why it really hurts me the most until the truth is accepted,” he added.
The controversy resurfaced after Khawaja revisited the 2018 scandal in his book Sabr, questioning whether Warner, Smith and Bancroft were made to shoulder the blame for an episode in which the wider team had knowledge of what was happening.
Khawaja recounted events during the Cape Town Test, where Bancroft was caught on television cameras attempting to use a piece of sandpaper on the ball. The incident led to an investigation by Cricket Australia and severe sanctions against the three players.
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