Steve Smith says David Warner’s lifetime captaincy ban is unfair, describing the sanction handed down following the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal in 2018 as “fundamentally wrong”.
Speaking as Australia’s acting captain after a record 419-run victory over the West Indies in Adelaide on Sunday secured a 2-0 series victory, Smith claimed Warner was a “once-in-a-generation” player who would bounce back after his run of low scores.
Pat Cummins is on course to return as captain for the first Test against South Africa at the Gabba, pushing Michael Neser out of the side. Cummins missed the Adelaide Test with a quad strain but has been bowling in the nets.
Scott Boland is likely to keep his place, with Josh Hazlewood expected to be ruled out again with a side strain which forced him to miss the Adelaide Test.
Smith, who predicted that the first Test series against South Africa since the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town almost five years ago will be played in good spirits, has sympathy for Warner over the saga regarding his leadership life ban after Cricket Australia lost control of a laborious process to reconsider the harsh penalty.
“From my point of view, banning someone for life from leadership is just fundamentally wrong,” Smith said. “David’s served his time like I did. We know he’s a leader around the group and on and off the field is doing a tremendous job.
Steve Smith said he thought Warner’s lifetime captaincy ban was unfair.Credit:Getty
“It’s been a difficult one for him. It’s been a difficult week and David said himself he’s done and dusted. He wants to move on [from the leadership saga]. He’s got our full support, and hopefully, he can have a really big series for us against South Africa.”
Asked if Warner’s blow-up with Cricket Australia over the leadership ban review process on the eve of the second Test had been a distraction, Smith said he believed it had been for Warner.
That may explain his modest scores against an even more modest West Indian attack, averaging just 25.5 across the two Tests. Warner has now gone 25 Test innings without a century. However, Smith does not believe Warner’s form is an issue, and a recent one-day century against England suggests as much.
“It’s in his body language, the way he goes out there and is really positive and just in a good frame of mind,” Smith said.
The Australian team poses with the Frank Worrell trophy.Credit:Getty Images
“I thought particularly yesterday [Saturday], when he went out to bat, you could see he was in a really good frame of mind. The way his feet were moving. He was really sharp and is batting well, there’s no real concerns.
“Dave is a once-in-a-generation player. He’s arguably the best ever opener for Australia and the way he’s able to put pressure on bowlers from the outset helps everyone down the order as well.
“He’s been an incredible player for a long period of time, his record suggests that and there’s no reason why he can’t have a big series for us this week coming up as well.”
Smith and Warner were banned from cricket for a year and Cameron Bancroft for nine months following the Newlands ball-tampering scandal in March 2018, with Smith banned from holding a leadership position for two years and Warner for life.
That series was marred by poor behaviour from both sides, but their behaviour has improved markedly since, Smith noted.
“I think the cricket we’ve played over the last four and a half years, we’ve played in the right way,” Smith said. “We’ve been hard and played in the right spirit. So for us, nothing changes. We’re just going to continue to go about our business and hopefully continue playing really good, entertaining cricket.”
The bowl-off for Hazlewood’s place in Brisbane became more intense on Sunday, with Neser claiming three wickets to finish the West Indies’ second innings with 3-22, giving him five wickets for the match after being flown in as a late replacement for Hazlewood.
It also helps that Neser is a Queenslander with the Gabba as his home ground, but Scott Boland was already in the squad as next cab off the rank and came in as a replacement for Cummins.
Boland, who began the match with 18 wickets at an average of 9.55 after three Tests, failed to claim a wicket in the first innings but blew the Test open on Saturday evening under lights, taking three wickets in his first over.
Ricky Ponting believes that Boland should play at the Gabba. “I think he is a better bowler than Neser right now,” Pointing said on Channel Seven.
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