Over The Top

should have been involved in this revolted not just the cricket administration Down Under, but people at large. It held up a mirror to the national psyche.

The cricket captaincy is arguably the most venerated position in the country, and the captain is appointed only after rigorous study and deliberation over a player’s credentials and integrity.

That Warner has been barred from any leadership position in the future, and Smith can perhaps regain the captaincy — which seems remote at this point in time — only if fans, sponsors and public at large don’t object shows how much prestige is vested in the person who leads the side.

The stiffness of the ban also reflects the administration’s anger at its own inability to assess and arrest the cultural decadence in Australian cricket. There have been telltale signs for some while now, which were ignored.

Micky Arthur, who coached the team briefly before Darren Lehman took over (he was in charge when Australia toured India in 2012-13), mentions about the decadent culture in a scathing blog (www.players. voice.com) last Friday.

“The Aussies have played the victim when they deem the other team has overstepped the mark. And when they’ve been in the ascendancy and behaved badly, everything is OK because they have determined as much,’’ says Arthur.

Those who track such things closely will find an echo of this in the ‘Brain Fade’ Steve Smith purportedly