Cricket Australia has never protected the interest of the players and David Warner’s outburst on captaincy ban has exposed the authorities’ “tendencies for back-side protecting”, feels the legendary Ian Chappell. Warner on Wednesday withdrew the bid to overturn his lifetime captaincy ban, saying the review panel wanted him to go through “public lynching” and he is not prepared to let his family be the “washing machine for cricket’s dirty laundry”. Chappell became the latest to come out in support of Warner after former skipper Michael Clarke too lashed out at CA for their lopsided review of his leadership ban and making the lefthander a scapegoat in the 2018 sandpaper scandal.
“I couldn’t be happier that David Warner told Cricket Australia the equivalent of “go and get stuffed” when he went public about his decision to withdraw his request for a review of his captaincy ban,” Chappell wrote in a column for ESPNCricinfo.
“This indicated Warner – who had been advised by CA against a public outburst — didn’t trust the authorities to be mindful of his interests. It was a wise decision by Warner as CA is renowned for only protecting their own interests, not those of players.” “Young players should be thankful Warner has exposed CA’s tendencies for back-side protecting. They need to keep it in mind for the future.
“Most importantly, though, Warner’s withdrawal of his review highlights how appalling the original decision to award him a lifetime leadership ban was,” the cricketer-turned-commentator observed.
Then Aussie skipper Steve Smith and his deputy at the time Warner were both suspended for 12 months after Cameron Bancroft was caught applying sandpaper to the ball during a match in South Africa in 2018.
