Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has doubled down on comments he made four years ago regarding the ball-tampering scandal, saying it was “disgraceful conduct”.
It comes as Australian Cricketers’ Association boss Todd Greenberg said he was “unbelievably frustrated” by David Warner’s decision to abort plans to have his ban overturned and put the heat on Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley to explain why plans for an independent process backfired spectacularly.
A day after Warner announced he would not take part in a public hearing in a bid to have his captaincy ban revoked, which was enforced after the ball-tampering saga of 2018, his manager, James Erskine, said the issue was blown out of proportion due to remarks made by Turnbull at the time.
“The prime minister came out … and said, ‘this is a disgrace’. I think he regrets those comments now,” Erskine said on SEN Radio.
Turnbull told reporters in 2018 in the aftermath of one of Australian cricket’s darkest days: “This cheating is a disgrace, we all know that, it is a terrible disgrace.”
Contacted by the Herald and The Age on Friday, Turnbull reiterated he thought the ball-tampering saga was a blight on the game.
David Warner signs autographs for fans at the Adelaide Oval on Friday.Credit:Getty
“I have not gone back to review what I said at the time, but the ball-tampering was disgraceful conduct and I don’t think many if any people at the time disagreed on that score,” Turnbull said.
Greenberg outlined the disappointment of not only the players’ association, but the cricketers they represent.
“I don’t think he had any alternative,” Greenberg told SEN Radio. “I see this as a significantly missed opportunity for the game.
“It’d be a fair understatement for me to say that we’re not unbelievably frustrated. That’s the overarching emotion. Not just for David and his family but also for his teammates who I know are really annoyed around this process and that it’s been able to drag into the middle of the Test summer.
Then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull described the ball-tampering scandal in 2018 as “a terrible disgrace”.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“I hoped, maybe naively, the question of leadership would be solved by the governing body who originally took the leadership away. Sadly, nine months on … we may never have asked the question if we knew what the answer would have looked like.”
Greenberg said the process, outsourced by CA to an independent panel, was a mistake.
CA boss Hockley will address the media on Friday afternoon to shed light on the process that Warner declined to take part in.
“Why the panel decided the issue needed to be a public hearing … is beyond me,” Greenberg said. “I think it lacks a real level of commonsense.
“The board of Cricket Australia resolved there should be an independent panel. The questions for Nick and the board is why they felt that was important. Ultimately, governing bodies are designed to govern. On this occasion, in my view, the moment it was outsourced to this independent panel, control was lost. Thus, we’ve ended up in a position we sit in today.
“In the ACA’s view, continuing the leadership ban ignores the leadership ban of human beings to learn from mistakes and make changes. It denies Australian cricket to benefit from these experiences.”
Asked whether Warner could walk away from Australian cricket altogether, Greenberg said: “I don’t think so. I think Dave is happy now he’s at least got an answer. Albeit, he had to make the decision for himself.”
However, in terms of the situation being salvaged with CA, Greenberg doesn’t see a chance of that happening.
“I don’t think anyone, let alone Dave and his family, have an appetite to drag this out more than it has,” Greenberg said. “I think there’s a clear full stop on the end of this one.”
Erskine lit the fuse on Thursday by suggesting two CA officials instructed the Australian team to tamper with the ball. He also inferred that other players, outside of Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft, knew more about what was going on during the controversial Test match against South Africa in Cape Town four years ago.
After being quizzed whether he believed other players knew, Greenberg said there was no value revisiting the issue again.
“I can’t speak to any of that. I don’t know to be fair,” Greenberg said. “I know James is a very passionate advocate for players. He’s got every right to be upset at how that matter was handled.
“I don’t personally think it’s helpful for us to look backwards. I think we’ve done that way too much. My focus is on the future to make a positive difference.
“We’re now in 2022 and to rake over it again would be a waste of time, energy and resources.
“We’ve moved on and I hope others can move on. We saw this as an opportunity to move on and it’s actually come back and smacked us right in the face again.”
