Sacred Aussie cow should be slaughtered

Iclearly remember disgraced Australian cricket captain Steve Smith sitting next to partner-in-crime Cameron Bancroft at a press conference at Newlands last month after the ball-tampering bombshell erupted during the day’s play.

Smith was asked whether he was prepared to resign as skipper in the wake of the scandal.

“No I won’t,” he said. “We are sorry for what we did and apologise for our actions.”

And just like that, the bewildered Aussie thought he could brush off an incident which outraged the whole cricketing world. But the events that unfolded over the next few days showed exactly to what extent Smith underplayed the situation in his initial assessment.

It was a row which left Cricket Australia seriously humiliated, led to Smith and David Warner receiving a 12-month ban from playing for the Aussies, Bancroft slapped with a nine-month ban, Warner banned from ever holding a leadership role again, Smith and Bancroft further barred for an additional 12 months from any leadership duties should they return to the national set-up and coach Darren Lehmann’s imminent resignation.

Following the Israel Folau anti-gay row over the last few weeks, I couldn’t help but cast my mind back to Smith’s disillusioned reaction on that fateful day.

But unlike Cricket Australia, which acted with immediate effect in serving the appropriate sanctions to fit the crime, Rugby Australia has been tip-toeing around the Folau matter.

In case you missed it, Folau, a devout Christian, wrote on social media that God’s plan for gay people was hell unless they repented their sins.

The Australian rugby bosses decided not to sanction him and just when you thought he would have to feel lucky that he dodged a bullet, he fires a few more himself. He went on to defend his views on a website, openly criticising Rugby Australia for misrepresenting him and even threatened to walk away from the game Down Under.

Seriously, who does this guy think he is? I couldn’t care less for the fact he is Australia’s highest paid rugby player or that he has played 62 Tests for the Wallabies.

Whether it is on gender, race, age or sexuality, anybody with such derogatory views must surely be in breach of either his code of conduct or the stipulations of his employment contract.

Backing it up with religious beliefs simply can’t save him on this one. There are dodgy churches in the world that in this day and age still discriminate against certain races and women. For goodness sake, apartheid was justified by religion.

Smith was often compared to the great Donald Bradman, not only regarded as the greatest Australian cricketer ever, but the greatest of all time.

But not even being regarded as Bradmanesque, being the Aussie captain or the world’s best batsman at the time could save Smith from paying the price.

What makes Folau, who won’t crack any list of greatest Wallabies, so indispensable that he can’t be brought to book?

I’m pretty sure deep down it hurt the Aussie cricket bosses immensely having to boot such a great player as Smith on their own account. But still they have a social responsibility towards the sporting world and knew what the right thing was to do.

It’s time the rugby bosses follow suit and kick Folau to the kerb.