In 2018, during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town, Australia’s opening batter, Cameron Bancroft, was caught on TV using sandpaper against one side of the cricket ball.

An investigation revealed the tampering was planned by the captain, Steve Smith, and vice-captain, David Warner. Both, as well as Bancroft, received bans from international and local cricket.

View image in fullscreenCopies of Usman Khawaja's autobiography, Sabr, at a bookstore in Sydney, 10 November, 2026. Photograph: James Redmayne/Reuters

Fast-forward to now – and former Australian batter Usman Khawaja alleged in his autobiography, Sabr: Finding My Way in Cricket and Life, that the use of sandpaper was widespread.

Khawaja alleged the tampering happened earlier in the series at Port Elizabeth and that the entire team knew about it. Cummins has not commented – until now.

The saga that never goes away: wounds of Australian cricket reopened as ball tampering resurfaces | Jack SnapeRead more