Test great Shane Warne has voiced his bewilderment at how David Warner was overlooked for a leadership position in favour of Steve Smith, after the former Test skipper was appointed vice captain last week.
Warne struggled to fathom how Warner was left out of the running, while Smith was restored to a leadership position, on account of differing punishments for their roles in ‘Sandpapergate’.
Warner and Smith both played central parts in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, resulting in Smith receiving a two-year leadership suspension and Warner accepting a lifetime leadership ban.
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As both men played their part in the controversy, Warne was disappointed and confused as to how Smith could be welcomed back to a leadership role while Warner was barred.
“With Sandpapergate back in South Africa a few years ago, how can the captain be allowed to take up another leadership role where a player like David Warner, who’s probably got the best cricket brain in the team, isn’t allowed to?” he said.
“If you’re going to ban a player but allow the captain to have another chance, it doesn’t make sense to me.
“I would’ve thought they’re either both available again, and we’ve all moved on, and we’ve put that in the past, and you can be captain or vice-captain again, or you can’t … I don’t think you can pick and choose one player or not.”
Former Australia cricket captain Ian Chappell was also angered by the dissimilar punishments dished out to Warner and Smith, arguing that Cricket Australia should have shown more consistency.
“I wish that Cricket Australia had made a clean break, but for Cricket Australia to get anything right at the moment is asking a bit much,” Chappell told 2GB’s WWOS Radio last week.
“… 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.”
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