Sydney, Nov 13 : Former Australia opener David Warner has said he is ‘very, very disappointed’ with Test captain Pat Cummins, accusing him of throwing their former team-mate Usman Khawaja ‘under the bus’ after his autobiography ‘Sabr’ revived the 2018 Sandpaper-gate scandal
Cummins took questions in a 70-minute press conference at Cricket NSW’s Silverwater headquarters on Friday, where he firmly denied having any knowledge of the ball-tampering plan in Cape Town or having any role in it.
“Pat Cummins was very well-prepared this morning (Friday). I still stick by Uzzie, and what he’s written in that book. It is the truth, and I really, really support him. I actually feel for him at the moment; I feel that the captain today threw Uzzie under the bus, and I’m very, very disappointed about that,” Warner was quoted as saying by Fox Sports.
Khawaja, who retired recently from all forms of the game, has reopened the controversy with ‘Sabr’, in which he gives his own account of the Cape Town Test. He has also kept the debate going online. In reply to a question about his book on social media, he wrote: ‘Am I going to deny that everyone knew? Nah. I won’t deny that either’.
That view contrasts with the findings of Cricket Australia’s inquiry, which identified only Warner, Smith and Bancroft as being involved. Smith, the captain at the time, was found to have known about the plan but failed to step in. Warner and Smith were each banned for 12 months and Bancroft for nine months.
Warner alleged that he, Smith and Bancroft had never been able to move on from the episode. “All three of us have paid a big price in this. I hadn’t spoken to ‘Banger’ (Bancroft) in eight years, but at the end of the day, we have to live with these consequences daily.
“We’ve got to live with these consequences daily, and we’ve been served a life punishment. So, when other people talk about how they’ve been affected by it, there’s nothing worse for me, Steve and Cameron who have to walk out there every single day.
“We cop abuse. Yes, we accepted it. But, my wife and I pay 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.
Warner also questioned the investigation itself, saying it was rushed and that responsibility had effectively been pushed onto the three players. “It’s been very difficult, because of the way it was handled in the first place. It was hard for us to go back and give more evidence. It felt like a botched investigation, and a quick one to get it over and done with.
“Some of the questions were quite challenging in a way where it was being planted on us, and we had to move on and accept responsibility for the three of us - and we ultimately did.
“The thing for us, is we don’t have that opportunity to go there and speak again (in an investigation). Todd Greenberg squashed that the other day. There’s probably going to be conversations behind the scenes after all this,” he concluded.
Cummins took questions in a 70-minute press conference at Cricket NSW’s Silverwater headquarters on Friday, where he firmly denied having any knowledge of the ball-tampering plan in Cape Town or having any role in it.
“Pat Cummins was very well-prepared this morning (Friday). I still stick by Uzzie, and what he’s written in that book. It is the truth, and I really, really support him. I actually feel for him at the moment; I feel that the captain today threw Uzzie under the bus, and I’m very, very disappointed about that,” Warner was quoted as saying by Fox Sports.
Khawaja, who retired recently from all forms of the game, has reopened the controversy with ‘Sabr’, in which he gives his own account of the Cape Town Test. He has also kept the debate going online. In reply to a question about his book on social media, he wrote: ‘Am I going to deny that everyone knew? Nah. I won’t deny that either’.
That view contrasts with the findings of Cricket Australia’s inquiry, which identified only Warner, Smith and Bancroft as being involved. Smith, the captain at the time, was found to have known about the plan but failed to step in. Warner and Smith were each banned for 12 months and Bancroft for nine months.
Warner alleged that he, Smith and Bancroft had never been able to move on from the episode. “All three of us have paid a big price in this. I hadn’t spoken to ‘Banger’ (Bancroft) in eight years, but at the end of the day, we have to live with these consequences daily.
“We’ve got to live with these consequences daily, and we’ve been served a life punishment. So, when other people talk about how they’ve been affected by it, there’s nothing worse for me, Steve and Cameron who have to walk out there every single day.
“We cop abuse. Yes, we accepted it. But, my wife and I pay 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.
Warner also questioned the investigation itself, saying it was rushed and that responsibility had effectively been pushed onto the three players. “It’s been very difficult, because of the way it was handled in the first place. It was hard for us to go back and give more evidence. It felt like a botched investigation, and a quick one to get it over and done with.
“Some of the questions were quite challenging in a way where it was being planted on us, and we had to move on and accept responsibility for the three of us - and we ultimately did.
“The thing for us, is we don’t have that opportunity to go there and speak again (in an investigation). Todd Greenberg squashed that the other day. There’s probably going to be conversations behind the scenes after all this,” he concluded.
