There is a oft-quoted saying that being prime minister is the second-most important job in Australia.
The most important, so it goes, is the job of captain of the men’s cricket team.
Intended as a joke no doubt, it reflects the enormous prestige, expectation, accountability and pressure that goes with the captaincy.
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So the attention given to Australia’s captain Pat Cummins at his media appearance to respond to former teammate Usman Khawaja’s allegations about the ball tampering scandal known as “Sandpapergate”, was no surprise.
And in what must surely rank as one of this country’s most amazing such events, Cummins provided a masterclass in leadership.
Leadership comes in various forms.
It can come in physical courage. Such as backing into a charging pack of AFL players.
Or remaining unflinching at the crease as a lightning-quick fast bowler prepares to send down other thunderbolt.
Or standing tall and confronting head-on claims made about you or your teammates that call into question your integrity and honesty.
It was the last of those definitions that Cummins personified on Friday.
Not for him a quick “I deny it all” before rushing off as the questions continued in his wake.
Cummins stood in front of the cameras for a marathon 70-minute media conference.
He was calm, composed, and completely clear in his response to Khawaja.
“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,” Cummins declared.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – NOVEMBER 13: Australian Test cricket captain Pat Cummins speaks to the media during a press conference at Cricket Central on November 13, 2026 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images) Darrian Traynor Credit: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images
“I’ve said that consistently for the last eight years. I did not know that was happening.
“But, I think Usman actually says things that are actually far more serious than that. He says that I and others were architects of a scheme to ball tamper with sandpaper. That’s complete and utter nonsense,” Cummins said.
He said he had been shocked when he found out that Khawaja admitted that he told Cameron Bancroft to be careful when using sandpaper.
“That’s not the Usman that I know,” he said.
That Khawaja “would have stopped that from happening there and then“.
Khawaja had been “casual with my life, and the lives of many others, and I think Australian cricket.”
Cummins told the assembled media pack he was happy to answer all their questions “until you have no more questions”.
The issues raised by Khawaja were met head on. And without getting short or angry with the questioners.
Cummins provided a compelling counter point of view to what Khawaja had claimed happened on that cursed tour of South Africa.
Perhaps the most significant question remains — for Khawaja. If he, as a senior player, knew that Bancroft — a young man trying to fit in — was about to take sandpaper onto the field, why didn’t he stop it?
Australians admire leaders who stand up to be counted when the pressure goes on.
Cummins did just that. Wouldn’t it be great if leaders in other fields, in particular our politicians, were similarly open and accountable.
What a different place we would be living in.
