The ball’s in your court, Darren
PRESSURE MOUNTS ON COACH TO COME CLEAN OVER ROLE IN SCANDAL THAT HAS ROCKED CRICKET
AUSTRALIA coach Darren Lehmann is starting to feel the heat over the balltampering scandal in South Africa.
And one of his predecessors, three-time World Cup winner John Buchanan, reckons Lehmann must have known what his players were up to in Cape Town.
Buchanan led Australia to a record 16 consecutive Test match victories as coach, not to mention the World Cup treble before stepping down in 2007.
And in his vast experience, he would expect Lehmann to be across the players’ actions out in the field.
Buchanan said: “It is unusual as the teams are walking out that the coach is unaware of what’s about to happen.
“Generally it will be the coach and captain, in the last couple of minutes before they go to the field, who will be saying, ‘These are the sort of things we want to do and put in place when we get out on the field’.” Lehmann has yet to comment on the storm engulfing his team, but was spotted speaking into a walkietalkie that appeared to give 12th man Peter Handscomb (circle, right) instructions to inform Cameron Bancroft about what was being shown on the TV screens.
England great Sir Ian Botham also thinks that more than just the players had to be involved in setting up the attempt to tamper with the ball.
Botham said: “There are a lot of questions to be answered. What on earth possesses you to do something so stupid is beyond me. There’s so much talk about it – how far does it go, how deep does it go?
“The players are saying the managething, ment weren’t involved which I hope is true. I don’t think this decision was made by just Smith and Warner – so who else was involved?”
Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen is stunned that neither Lehmann nor bowling coach David Saker have stepped forward yet amid the scandal.
Pietersen tweeted: “Anyone heard from Lehmann? Saker? That’s Head Coach and Bowling Coach. Pretty instrumental in all of this.” With captain Steve Smith (left), vicecaptain David Warner and the player who tampered with the ball, Bancroft, all admitting their guilt, there are still plenty of questions to be answered over who knew what and how deep the conspiracy went. There is growing anger at home and former Australia batsman Marcus North was staggered the culprits entertained the notion of cheating and did not appreciate how bad it would look.
North said: “You get a bit emotional about it and that’s not trying to sound over the top. Cheating in sport, certainly in Australian culture, is an absolute no-no.
“For me, the stupidity and the ignorance of these guys not to think that, ‘We’re doing the wrong let’s cut this conversation straight away’. They obviously haven’t thought about the consequences and the magnitude of what they’re doing. “This incident is one of the darkest days in Australian cricket.” Lehmann could yet find himself in the crosshairs of chief executive James Sutherland, but for now remains in charge ahead of the final Test match in Johannesburg. But Smith,
banned for one match, has already resigned as captain of his IPL team, the Rajasthan Royals, where Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler will be playing next month.
The Royals have replaced him with Ajinkya Rahane with owner Manoj Badale standing by the disgraced Aussie.
“Rajasthan Royals will do everything possible to protect the values and the integrity of the game,” said Badale. “We agree with Steve’s decision to step down as captain and we are fortunate to have such a capable successor.
“It is important that all cricket fans retain a balanced perspective on the situation. This will be a difficult time for Steve as well, given how much he cares about the game.”
Buchanan (circle, left) feels Smith will find things tougher Down Under. He added: “I don’t think Steve Smith can continue as captain. It may be his first major error, but it is such an enormous error of judgment.
“Hopefully he can continue as a player, but I would have thought there is very little opportunity for him to retain his position as captain.”