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CRICKET-AUS-SMITH-WARNER
Smith, Warner ‘paid price’, says cricket chief as boycott threat revealed
SYDNEY, March 29, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Australian cricket chief Kevin Roberts
insisted the return of Steve Smith and David Warner will not disrupt the
resurgent team as a report on Friday revealed senior players threatened a
boycott in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal.
One-year bans slapped on the former captain and his deputy for their part
in the scandal dubbed “Sandpaper-gate” expired overnight and the pair are
free to play at state and international level again.
Warner was widely seen as the instigator of the plot during the third Test
in Cape Town last year to use sandpaper to alter the ball, with rookie opener
Cameron Bancroft carrying it out and Smith turning a blind eye.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported Friday that star bowlers Mitchell Starc,
Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon all intended to pull out of the
fourth Test in South Africa if Warner was not removed from the team.
Citing multiple sources, it said “the revelation highlights the extent of
the fracture within the dressing-room in the immediate aftermath of one of
the most damaging events in Australian cricket history”.
Smith and Warner’s reintegration process has already begun with the pair
meeting the one-day team in Dubai this month. Lyon and Cummins were present,
but the injured Starc and Hazlewood were not.
Asked whether relations had been patched up sufficiently for Warner’s
return not to be disruptive, Roberts compared the situation to any other
workplace.
“What we’re focused on is doing everything we can to support Dave, Steve,
Cameron and all of the other support staff with this integration … to build
harmony rather than to disrupt the harmony that is building,” he said at the
Melbourne Press Club Thursday.
“At the same time, let’s be open about it — in any workplace you don’t
need to be best mates with everyone, but there needs to be a foundation of
respect and I think there is growing respect there.”
He added that Smith, Warner, and Bancroft had all “owned their mistakes,
they’ve paid a price and have served their time”.
The “Sandpaper-gate” scandal triggered far-reaching consequences for
Australian cricket.
Then-coach Darren Lehmann quit and all the top brass from Cricket Australia
left after a scathing review said their “arrogant and controlling” win-at-
all-costs culture was partly to blame for players bending the rules.
Reflecting on the past year, Roberts said “our highest priority now is
rebuilding trust both within and around cricket”.
“We’ve seen tangible change at the board level, the executive level, we’ve
got a new men’s coach and a relatively new men’s Test captain.
“Those are some of the tangible changes. But much more importantly the
really important intangible change is that we are now very clear about what
we stand for.
“Everything we do now at Cricket Australia is about uniting and inspiring
communities through cricket.”
He added that while Australian teams were determined to win, “we have a
non-negotiable expectation that we compete with respect”.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0830 hrs