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'Gloves are off' - how Australian papers reacted to Cummins on Khawaja

'Gloves are off' - how Australian papers reacted to Cummins on Khawaja

The Australian newpapers have their say after Pat Cummins' extraordinary 68-minute news conference.

Eight years after cricket was rocked by the scandal which became known as "Sandpapergate", the controversy has been reignited.

Former batter Usman Khawaja released his autobiography in which he said the entire Australia team knew about the scheme and should have taken responsibility.

Captain Pat Cummins hit back in a news conference on Friday, saying Khawaja's claims were "100% wrong" and "nonsense".

That news conference lasted for over an hour at the end of a week which has reopened old wounds and pitted former team-mates against each other.

Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were punished for tampering with the ball using sandpaper in Australia's Test against South Africa in Cape Town in 2018.

Khawaja has been supported by Warner and Chadd Sayers, a seam bowler who was part of the Australia squad on the 2018 tour of South Africa.

But Darren Lehmann - who was then the head coach - is among those to have rejected Khawaja's accusations, as are the former England batter Graeme Hick, who was one of his assistants, and Mitchell Starc, another bowler on the tour.

In Khawaja's book, published this week, he alleges Australia were urged to find ways to get the ball to swing by a coach and that Bancroft was later encouraged to cheat.

In brief

Eight years after cricket was rocked by the scandal which became known as "Sandpapergate", the controversy has been reignited. Former batter Usman Khawaja released his autobiography in which he said the entire Australia team knew about the scheme and should have taken responsibility. Khawaja has been supported by Warner and Chadd Sayers, a seam bowler who was part of the Australia squad on the 2018 tour of South Africa.

This is the opening of the story, shared with credit to BBC News — Top Stories. The rest of the report — with every detail — continues on the publisher’s website.

Continue reading at BBC News — Top Stories ↗

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