C’mon Steve Smith, resign
Skipper has sent liquefaction bubbling through Aussie cricket’s moral high ground
OPINION: C’mon Aussie, c’mon indeed. And c’mon Steve Smith, c’mon and quit as captain. After all the wailing and moral high-ground taking over South Africa, this? Ball tampering, no wait, that’s too nice a term ... blatant cheating.
And having been caught blatantly cheating, Smith blatantly admits blatant cheating, then says he’s ‘‘deeply regretful’’ for the actions of his team’s leadership group.
‘‘We’re deadset regretful we got caught, it’s a dog’s breakfast,’’ Smith said.
‘‘We thought it was a bloody ripper of an idea, we’d pull the wool over the umpires’ eyes, get a fair crack of the whip at winning the test, and no worries mate she’ll be right.’’
OK, so Smith didn’t say that, but I’d hazard a guess that it’s the size of the MCG closer to what he thinks - or thought - than what he really did say.
Let’s sum up what Smith has said:
Admission: the leadership group talked about it at lunch; they agree it was a way to ‘‘get an advantage’’; they told ‘‘Bangers’’ (Cameron Bancroft) to ball tamper (cheat). And he did.
Problem is Bangers got caught, which wasn’t part of the deliberate plan. So now what? Bancroft has been suspended for one test. Smith won’t be resigning as captain; even though he admits his integrity, and that of his team is in tatters.
He could have expanded his blame to say the cheating was a blight on world cricket in general. But didn’t.
He could have said a man with his integrity in tatters had no option but to resign. But didn’t.
Maybe those actions would be un-Australian, whereas using every possible tactic to undermine the opposition to win what is just a game is not.
Can it be just this week that Smith hit out at South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada for overcelebrating, and bumping into him as part of his send off. ‘‘I certainly think he bumped me a little bit harder than it actually looked.’’
Yes it can be. On Wednesday, Smith spent much of press conference seeming infuriated that the Rabada suspension had been overturned.
Smith wanted the world’s best bowler suspended for contact which New Zealand QC Michael Heron - overseeing the appeal - said he could not be ‘‘comfortably satisfied’’ was deliberate.
So if you want deliberate, here is deliberate.
‘‘The leadership group knew about it. We spoke about it at lunch ... we spoke about it and thought it was a possible way to get an advantage. Obviously it didn’t work. The umpires didn’t see it change the ball was behaving, or how it looked or anything like that.’’
So now that Smith has admitted deliberately condoning ball tampering (cheating) in a bid to ‘‘get an advantage’’, he has taken what personal action? Well, nothing. Play on. Middle and leg please.
Smith is hoping this whole thing will blow over, so he can get back to rotating his bowlers, moving his field here and there, defending his side’s ‘‘very chirpy’’ on field chat, dreaming up tactics to ‘‘get an advantage’’ over lunch, all the while moaning about the opposition getting ‘‘a little bit personal’’.
If Smith is not prepared to do the right thing, then the International Cricket Council or Cricket Australia should. We have video evidence, we have an admission, what more is required?
Captains who order their players to ball tamper (cheat) should be just as culpable as the player themselves.
Would you say no to your boss, even if you thought they’d come up with a dumb idea? Not me.
‘A bad dream’ P18