# ‘Gloves are off’ – how Australian papers reacted to Cummins on Khawaja

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/gloves-are-off-how-australian-papers-reacted-to-cummins-on-khawaja/
- Published: 2026-11-13T21:53:37+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-13T22:21:44+00:00
- Original publisher: BBC Sport (publisher lean: Centre)
- Original article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/cq1k97y4e1rxo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
- Topics: Sport

## Key points

- Cummins rejects Khawaja’s Sandpapergate claims.
- Khawaja says the whole team knew about the scheme.
- The row has divided former Australian team-mates.

## Summary

Pat Cummins has publicly rejected former team-mate Usman Khawaja’s claim that Australia’s whole team knew about the 2018 ball-tampering scheme, reigniting debate over the Sandpapergate scandal. The dispute matters because it has reopened divisions among players and staff over who knew and who should have taken responsibility.

Khawaja’s autobiography, published this week, alleges a coach urged the team to find ways to make the ball swing and that Cameron Bancroft was later encouraged to cheat. Cummins called the claims “100% wrong” and “nonsense” during a news conference lasting more than an hour; some former team-mates have backed Khawaja, while others, including Darren Lehmann and Mitchell Starc, have rejected his account. Australian newspapers highlighted the row with sharply different headlines, including Warner’s criticism that Cummins had “thrown Uzzie under the bus”.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.