"Cheating is Cheating": Ian Chappell Slams Cricket Australia For Appointing Steve Smith As Vice-captain

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell was not happy with Cricket Australia's decision to appoint Steve Smith as vice-captain of the Test side. Smith, a former skipper, was removed as captain and banned from all cricket for 12 months for his involvement in Sandpapergate in Cape Town, South Africa in 2018, which saw Australian cricket go through a host of changes. They face a similar scenario currently after a scandal forced Tim Paine to take indefinite break from all forms of cricket. Australia named Pat Cummins as their new captain barely a couple of weeks before the Ashes while Smith made a comeback to the leadership group after three years as the vice-captain. 

Chappell said Cricket Australia should have started on a clean slate after Paine stood down. Going back to Smith as vice-captain was not the right precedent to set. 

"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 said on 2GB's Wide World of Sports radio on Saturday.

Chappell said the different treatment for David Warner and Smith for the same offence also doesn't make much sense. Warner, Smith were banned for 12 months while Cameron Bancroft was given a nine-month ban but the left-handed opening batter was also banned from captaincy for life, which was not the case with Smith, who was only banned from leading Australia for two years. 

"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's got to know, he's got to find out and he's got to do something about it. 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," said Chappell.

Using the "cheating," Chappell said Smith and Warner can continue as players but bringing them back in the leadership group is not the right example. 

"Cheating is cheating, whether it's big cheating or little cheating, it's still cheating in my book. If I'd have cheated as an Australian captain -- I mean I made a lot of mistakes but I didn't cheat. And if I had cheated, and if I had done what Tim Paine did, I would have expected Cricket Australia to not ask me to resign, they would have taken the job away from me and made sure I didn't continue to play as a player," said Chappell.
 

Topics mentioned in this article

Australia Cricket Team Ian Michael Chappell Steven Smith David Warner Pat Cummins Tim Paine Cricket