Australia great Ian Chappell is not happy with Cricket Australia’s decision to appoint Steve Smith as deputy to the newly-appointed captain of its Test team, Pat Cummins. Looking back at the infamous ball tampering scandal from March of 2018, Chappell said he fails to see the logic behind CA appointing Smith as vice-captain over Warner, who held the post when the episode broke out.
“For starters, I have a problem – why is Steve Smith looked upon as a different punishment to David Warner? In fact, if anything, I think Steve Smith’s crime was greater. For a captain to say, ‘I don’t want to know’ when cheating is involved, is not correct. A captain has got to know, he’s got to find out and he’s got to do something about it,” Chappell said on 2GB’s Wide World of Sports program.
Smith, the then captain and Warner, his then-deputy were handed 12-month bans for their involvement in the ball tampering saga, and although both cricketers have served their punishment and returned a clean slate, Chappell cannot wrap his head around the fact that Smith has returned to a leadership role.
“Either Steve Smith has a two-year ban from captaincy and so does David Warner, or Steve Smith has a life ban and so does Dave Warner. Same thing. Cheating is cheating, whether it’s big cheating or little cheating, it’s still cheating in my book.”
