Toxic teammates

THE relationship between Steve Smith and David Warner has become so toxic they were deliberately put on separate planes home.

The fallout following the ball-tampering affair has been so deep seated Australia feared if the duo were put on the same flight home it could be an abject debacle if they were forced to face the same press conference in Sydney.

Smith’s state of mind was also considered so fragile the possibility of him having to spend time with Warner on the way home was the last thing he or Australia wanted.

It is normally customary for players to return from a tour together if they are heading to the same city but Warner and Smith were never going to catch the same plane, even though it meant Warner arrived home four hours after Smith.

Smith flew home via Singapore while Warner went through Dubai.

So bad is the blood flowing that senior Australian officials have privately speculated they could have one but not both of Smith and Warner back in the team after their year-long bans expire.

Smith is far more likely to be the preferred choice.

While the fast bowlers were initially furious at Smith for saying the ball tampering was approved by “the leadership group’’ their anger is reportedly subsiding, though Warner remains a pariah. Warner has basically gone rogue since the inci- dent, taking himself off the team “whatsapp’’ and having minimal contact with his teammates.

One of the fast bowlers allegedly urged team management to “get Warner off the tour otherwise something could really blow up’’.

The revelation Warner was the mastermind of the ball tampering incident has cast a grim pall over the national selection panel, then chaired by Rod Marsh, who chose him as vice-captain, and the weak Cricket Australia board that approved it.

Warner was appointed vice-captain for the worst possible reason — because of fears he would be a disruptive force in the side if he did not get the job.

In hindsight it would have been a big moment if someone on the Cricket Australia board had the courage to speak up against it, but they are not a board renowned for their courage.

Several of them have a shallow knowledge of the game.

The incident has cast a searing spotlight on the board’s inability to arrest flagging standards of sportsmanship over the past five years.

It has got to the stage that in the last mission statement released last year there was no section on a commitment to the Spirit of Cricket, which had previously been a longterm inclusion.

Warner will properly address the ball-tampering saga today for the first time since being accused of masterminding the scandal.

The dumped vice-captain has scheduled an 11am press conference at the Cricket NSW offices next to the SCG, marking the first time he will take questions from the media since he allegedly instructed Cameron Bancroft to tamper with the ball in South Africa.

All this will take place while Australian players sleep after the first day of a Wanderers Test that has virtually become a sideshow, but will still decide if the series is drawn or lost.

When asked at their press conferences, Bancroft and Smith each refused to push any blame on Warner and denied any knowledge of previous tampering. “I don’t blame anyone. I’m the captain of the Australian team,” Smith said. “It’s on my watch and I take responsibility for the action of what happened last Saturday in Cape Town.”