‘Sandpaper scratches are totally different’: Wasim Akram weighs in as Hafeez takes swipe at Cummins

Pakistan pace legend Wasim Akram has questioned whether Australia’s players were collectively aware of the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, saying an experienced bowler would have immediately recognised if sandpaper had been used to alter the cricket ball.

The renewed controversy follows former Australian batter Usman Khawaja’s autobiography Sabr, in which he revisited the scandal and alleged that the entire Australian team knew about the plan to tamper with the ball.

Speaking from Melbourne, Akram offered his assessment of the controversy, saying he believed the team might not have known what was happening at the time, while making clear that he was expressing a personal opinion.

My two cents on the sandpaper issue. pic.twitter.com/ig3HcQpkdK

— Wasim Akram (@wasimakramlive) November 14, 2026

“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,” he said.

The former Pakistan captain, widely regarded as one of the finest exponents of reverse swing, explained the technical difference between legitimate ball maintenance and deliberately scratching the ball with sandpaper.

“As a bowler, when the cricket ball comes in my hand, either it’s the fifth over, the 10th over or the 50th over, the old ball, where you look after the ball, you shine one side,” Akram said.

He explained that bowlers sometimes used playing conditions to their advantage by allowing the ball to bounce once before throwing it back on dry surfaces, resulting in natural scratches.

“But the sandpaper scratch is totally different than the one-bounce scratch,” he said.

Akram suggested that even cricket enthusiasts could identify the difference by comparing the marks left by the two methods.

“If you want to check, grab a semi-new cricket ball, grab a sandpaper and rub it in, you’ll know the scratches are totally different,” he said.

However, Hafeez appeared to challenge Cummins’ position in a post on X, describing him as a “beneficiary bowler of sandpaper art” and accusing him of denying the “real fact”.

“A beneficiary bowler of sandpaper art is denying the real fact,” Hafeez wrote, adding the hashtags #UtterNonSense and #Sandpaper.

A beneficiary bowler of sandpaper art is denying the real fact. #UtterNonSense #Sandpaper

— Mohammad Hafeez (@MHafeez22) November 14, 2026

Akram says experienced bowlers would notice

Akram said an experienced fast bowler would not need much time to recognise whether a ball had been deliberately altered.

“I never look at the ball and I’ll know straight away something is not right,” he said, referring to his experience as a bowler.

His remarks come after Australia captain Pat Cummins rejected Khawaja’s claims that the entire team knew about the use of sandpaper during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town in March 2018.

Addressing a press conference in Sydney, Cummins said Khawaja was wrong in suggesting that the players collectively knew about the plan.

“When he says we all knew, if by that he means that we knew sandpaper was going out in the field, he’s 100% wrong. I’ve said that consistently for the last eight years,” Cummins said.

He also dismissed allegations that he and other players had helped devise a coordinated plan to tamper with the ball, calling the suggestion “complete and utter nonsense”.

Sandpaper scandal resurfaces eight years later

The scandal erupted after television cameras captured Australian batter Cameron Bancroft using sandpaper to alter the ball’s condition during the Cape Town Test.

Cricket Australia subsequently handed 12-month bans to then captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner, while Bancroft received a nine-month suspension.

Khawaja’s autobiography has revived debate over the incident, with former Australia opener Warner publicly backing his account and criticising Cummins for challenging his former teammate.

Akram hopes controversy is resolved

Akram said Australians were known for their straightforwardness, competitiveness and honesty, adding that the renewed controversy had once again put the country under pressure over an incident from eight years ago.

“Australians are known and famous for their straightforwardness, hardness, on the field, off the field, and most importantly, honesty,” he said.

“I think that’s where the whole nation has been under stress a bit, obviously, eight years ago and back to it again.”

The former Pakistan captain said he hoped the matter would be resolved, reiterating that his comments were based on his understanding of the game and his experience as a fast bowler.

“I hope things get sorted out,” he said.