Pat Cummins says Usman Khawaja is free to tell his story in forthcoming memoir

Pat Cummins said ahead of Australia’s first Test in Durban that Usman Khawaja had called to tell him he was writing a memoir, which publisher Penguin Books Australia has scheduled for 10 November 2026. The captain said Khawaja gave him little detail, leaving open whether the book will address the 2018 Cape Town ball-tampering scandal. Khawaja played in that Test, making his account a potential new perspective on an episode that led to three Australian players being banned.

Cummins described his reply to Khawaja as: ‘no worries, you can tell your story, that’s fine’. Asked whether Khawaja had said how much he would write about the scandal, or whether he agreed with former teammates’ account, Cummins said: ‘You would have to ask him.’ His comments establish the conversation between the players, but offer no preview of Khawaja’s version of events.

What is known about Usman Khawaja’s book

Penguin lists the autobiography as Sabr: Finding my way in cricket and life, with hardback, e-book and audiobook editions due on 10 November. It lists the hardback at 448 pages and describes a memoir spanning Khawaja’s cricket career and life. That description is publisher material for a book that has not yet been released; it does not establish whether Khawaja discusses Cape Town, or what he might say about it.

Australian Associated Press reports that the memoir will be the first autobiography by an Australian player who appeared in the Cape Town Test. That distinction helps explain the interest in the book, although its scope cannot be inferred from the author’s place in the team. Cummins said Khawaja had not gone into much detail when they spoke, and said the team had moved on after the investigations and questioning that followed the incident.

What Cricket Australia found in the 2018 ball-tampering case

According to Cricket Australia, Warner developed the plan and instructed Bancroft to carry it out. The organisation found that Smith knew of the plan but failed to prevent it, and directed the attempted concealment of evidence on the field. Smith and Warner received 12-month bans, while Bancroft was banned for nine months. Cricket Australia also said Warner would not again be considered for an Australian leadership position; Smith and Bancroft faced a further waiting period before leadership consideration.

The match referee described bringing a foreign object onto the field to alter the ball for unfair advantage as contrary to cricket’s Laws and Spirit. Cricket Australia’s account recorded that Bancroft pleaded guilty and publicly apologised. Those established disciplinary findings are the basis for describing the incident and sanctions. They do not establish the contents of an unpublished memoir, nor do they resolve what Khawaja personally understood at the time.

How the later cultural review differed

The disciplinary inquiry was followed by a broader examination of Australian cricket. In April 2018, Cricket Australia announced an independent review of cultural, organisational and governance factors, alongside a separate review focused on players and on-field factors. Chairman David Peever said the board accepted responsibility and would face scrutiny. At the announcement, the independent reviewer and terms of reference had yet to be determined.

The Australian Cricketers’ Association’s Greg Dyer criticised the proposed process as insufficiently transparent and independent, and called for a joint panel with Cricket Australia. His objection concerned how the follow-up inquiry would be conducted. It did not alter the disciplinary findings already made about the three sanctioned players.

When the Ethics Centre’s cultural review was reported in October 2018, it described ‘strong systemic and organisational input’ into the decision to cheat and identified a ‘win-at-all-costs’ orientation in elite cricket. The Guardian reported that the 147-page review made 42 recommendations: Cricket Australia supported 34, was considering seven and rejected one. The report also said some sections had been redacted on legal advice because of defamation risk.

That review examined the wider environment around the team, a different question from the disciplinary inquiry’s account of who knew about the ball-tampering plan. Peever said at the review’s publication that the player sanctions would stand. Then-captain Tim Paine said its findings had informed a Players’ Pact. Those responses show how cricket authorities dealt with the aftermath; neither provides advance knowledge of Khawaja’s book.

What remains unanswered before publication

The central unanswered question is whether Sabr covers the Cape Town Test and, if it does, what Khawaja says about it. Cummins has confirmed that Khawaja told him about the book and has expressed no objection to him telling his story. Penguin has confirmed the title, formats and scheduled publication date. Until the memoir is available or Khawaja gives an account of its contents, any claim that it revises, confirms or challenges the established record would go beyond what is known.