Former Australia skipper Ian Chappell doesn’t see Steven Smith leading the national team again. Further, he also backed Cricket Australia’s decision to ban Smith and David Warner for 12 months.
Meanwhile, CA sanctioned Cameron Bancroft with nine months bam and debarred him and Smith from captaincy for the next two years. Warner, on the other hand, will never be considered for a leadership role, said the board.
“I don’t see either of them (Smith or Warner) ever captaining Australia again. One of the most important things about being captain is that you have to earn the respect of your teammates,” Chappell told Cricinfo.
In addition, Chappell stated that it would be tough for them to regain respect among the teammates.
“With the way, this stupidity in Cape Town played out; I don’t think any of them could regain much respect with their teammates. So I think you can forget about either of them captaining Australia,” he added.
However, the veteran cricketer justified CA’s decision to ban the disgraced cricketers for at least one year. Chappell also added the situation would have been good for CA if they gave a six months ban.
“They had to go for 12 months with Smith and Warner. I think if they would have only given six months to them and they tried to play in Australia’s next summer, the booing and crowd reaction would have been so bad. It would have been very hard for the players, and it would not have been a very good situation for Cricket Australia,” Chappell added.
Meanwhile, all the cricketers came out in public individually for the first time to admit their mistakes. While Smith and Bancroft addressed the media in Sydney, Warner posted a message on social media.
Further, here is the newsfeed:
Mickey Arthur decries ‘boorish and arrogant’ Australian cricketers
