MELBOURNE : Cricket Australia chairman David Boon has backed test captain Pat Cummins, saying his leadership is not under threat following allegations in Usman Khawaja’s book about the 2018 ball-tampering scandal.
Former test batter Khawaja’s claims that he and all his teammates on the tour of South Africa had prior knowledge of a plan to tamper with the ball have reopened old wounds and prompted calls for another investigation.
The controversy has brought renewed scrutiny on Cummins, who currently leads Australia’s test side, with pundits urging him to address the allegations.
Boon said Cricket Australia (CA) had full confidence in Cummins and his integrity.
“We absolutely support Pat,” Boon told The Australian on Thursday.
“He’s been an exemplary captain, he’s led the team with integrity and, you know, very successfully over the period of time that he’s been captain, so there’s no question of our confidence in him continuing on in that fact.”
Cummins has yet to respond directly to Khawaja’s claims but said on X that he would address the media on Friday.
“I’ve taken some time to try and better understand the long list and full extent of Uzzy’s allegations so I can respond properly,” he wrote.
NO JUDGEMENT
White-ball captain Mitchell Marsh, who was part of the test squad in 2018, declined to comment on the controversy at a press conference in Perth on Thursday, saying he was not ready to share his account.
However, he acknowledged that many people were still “hurting” over the scandal.
“I respect (Khawaja) for telling his story and for writing his book, and I don’t sit here coming from a place of judgment on any of that,” Marsh said ahead of a one-day international against England.
“Everyone’s got their story. Some will be willing to share it, and others might not, purely on the basis of the fact that they’ve moved on. I think it’s really important that at some stage we do.”
Khawaja’s allegations received strong backing from former teammate David Warner, who was banned alongside Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft for their roles in the ball-tampering scandal.
Retired fast bowler Chadd Sayers, who was also on the 2018 tour, described Khawaja’s claims as “accurate” in comments to Australian broadcaster Seven Network last weekend.
CA chief executive Todd Greenberg said on Tuesday there was no compelling reason to reopen the investigation, a position reiterated by Boon.
“I respect (Khawaja’s) point of view and his recollections of what occurred, and they’re his, but we don’t want to get into a he-said-she-said argument,” Boon said.
“There are going to be supporters, there’s going to be other guys that don’t recollect the same thing, so I don’t see a purpose.”
In his autobiography “Sabr”, released this week, Khawaja alleged that Australia had tampered with the ball during the second test in South Africa, not just the third test in Cape Town.
Former Australia batting coach Graeme Hick rejected Khawaja’s account as “absolutely false”.
“In regard to any discussions around the ball-tampering in Port Elizabeth or Cape Town that took place, I will say in true honesty that I did not hear or know anything,” Hick told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc also denied on Tuesday having prior knowledge of the ball-tampering.
Starc and fellow bowlers Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon issued a joint statement in 2021 saying they were unaware that a “foreign substance” had been taken onto the field to alter the ball in Cape Town.
