Former Pakistan captain and fast-bowling great Wasim Akram on Saturday weighed in on the renewed discussion over Australia’s infamous ball-tampering scandal during the 2018 Cape Town Test against South Africa.
Usman Khawaja, who called time on his glittering international career earlier this year after representing Australia in 88 Tests, renewed the scandal last Saturday by claiming that the entire Australia team was aware of the ball-tampering plot.
“It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us,” Khawaja had told the Sydney Morning Herald ahead of the release of his autobiography, Sabr, next week, where a chapter is dedicated to the issue.
The former opener’s claims have since sparked debate in Australian cricket, ultimately leading their current Test captain, Pat Cummins, to address the issue publicly during an hour-long press conference on Friday, where he described the allegations as “100 per cent wrong” and “complete and utter nonsense”.
“When he says we all knew, if by that he means that we knew sandpaper was going out on the field, he’s 100 per cent wrong. I’ve said that consistently for the last eight years. I did not know that was happening,” Cummins said earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Pakistan bowling great Akram, who described Cummins as a very close friend, a great cricketer and one of the top leaders in world cricket currently, suggested that the Australian team may not be aware of the ball-tampering plot at the time.
“For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been hearing [about] this controversy. Usman Khawaja wrote a book called Sabr, where he said what happened eight years ago,” Akram said in a video message.
“You know, South Africa, I believe, with the sandpaper thing, the issue. And I saw Pat Cummins, who’s a very close friend of mine, great cricketer, one of the top leaders in world cricket, the way he leads the team from the front. And he said he didn’t know.
“So probably the team didn’t know at the time what was happening, in my opinion. It’s my opinion. It can be right or wrong.”
Akram, however, highlighted the difference between conventional ball maintenance and the use of sandpaper, explaining that the two methods produce noticeably different marks on a cricket ball.
“But as a bowler, when the cricket ball comes in my hand, either it’s the fifth over, either it’s in 10th over, or either it’s in 50th over the old ball, where you look after the ball, you shine the one side, if it’s a dry day, dry square, you one bounce throw, you get scratch a bit,” Akram explained.
“But the sandpaper scratch is totally different from the one-bounce scratch. And as a cricket lover, if you want to check, grab a semi-new cricket ball, grab a sandpaper, and rub it in, you know, the scratches are totally different,” he added.
The former Pakistan cricketer then went on to maintain that he was not taking sides in the controversy, while emphasising that honesty had long been associated with Australian cricket.
“So again, like I said, I’m not taking anybody’s sides. And Australians known and famous for their, you know, straightforwardness, hardness on the field, off the field, and most importantly, honesty,” Akram continued.
“And I think that’s what the whole nation has been, you know, under stress a bit, obviously, eight years ago and back to it again.”
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