Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Pat Cummins has been spotted in what appeared to be a street-side argument with his wife Becky in the Aussie Test captain’s first public sighting since Usman Khawaja’s explosive “Sandpaper-gate” comments.
In vision captured by The Australian on Wednesday, the pair were depicted engaging in an animated conversation on a Sydney street.
Cummins — dressed in a T-shirt and shorts — appeared to take a passive role in the debate, before he and his wife retreated into a property.
The Test skipper has been rested from Australia’s two white-ball series against England ahead of four Tests against Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand.
The sighting comes after Khawaja’s recent claims the entire dressing room was aware of a ball tampering plot during the side’s 2018 Test series in South Africa.
His incendiary comments were quickly co-signed by long-time pal and former opening partner, Dave Warner.
The admission aligns with the release of Khawaja’s autobiography Sabr, released on Tuesday, which outlines his version of events that led to lengthy Cricket Australia-imposed sanctions to Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft.
Ahead of Australia’s most recent series in South Africa, Cummins was asked by reporters if he was concerned about the prospect of the former Test opener offering details that opposed findings from an official investigation at the time.
“It’s obviously a long time ago. All the investigations, everything was done back then. Answered every question a million times,” Cummins said.
“It was dealt with then, all I can say is as a group we’ve moved on. Very happy with the last eight or nine years, how we’ve been as a group and evolved. He didn’t go into too much detail . . . As always it was ‘no worries, you can tell your story, that’s fine’.”
On Wednesday, Khawaja canned any remaining media commitments surrounding his book following a grilling on ABC’s 7.30 program.
During the appearance, he was asked if he was “pissed off” over the bowlers’ refusal to admit they were aware of efforts to rough up the ball using sandpaper.
“I’ll say again, I’ve given my statement about what happened the game before,” Khawaja said.
“I was very open and honest to what I saw and what conversations I had.
“Sometimes I’m very specific on things, and sometimes I’m a bit vague on things, and I do it on purpose because I’m trying to tell a story.”
Pressed again on the involvement of the team’s then-bowling line-up, Khawaja played a straight bat.
“I’m just not going … I’m not going to entertain that,” Khawaja said.
“I’m not going to really speak on any more of it at this moment.”
