eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
Smith shouldn't captain ever again. He was a poor captain.
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At the same time, some people naively believe his story that he didn’t have a clue what Warner and Bancroft were up to and his sin was simply ignoring something suspicious. He was up to his neck in it, so was Lehmann; he’s gone and Smith shouldn’t captain again.I don't think Smith was a good captain but I do think he was unfairly thrown under the bus.
I'd happily bet money that the whole ball tampering thing was a team plan that Darren Lehmann was in on. Lehmann's whole playing dumb act juts doesn't add up with the way in which he went about speaking with Handscomb on the walkie talkie.
I'm certain Smith's punishment was specifically about his address to the media which was incredibly stupid and out of touch, putting the entire Australian Cricket Brand in jeopardy. Had he just gone out and said something similar to Faf in years gone by it would have been a non event after the series was over.
You'd have to be a complete moron to think Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc weren't in on it.
At the same time, some people naively believe his story that he didn’t have a clue what Warner and Bancroft were up to and his sin was simply ignoring something suspicious. He was up to his neck in it, so was Lehmann; he’s gone and Smith shouldn’t captain again.
His story was, he saw them plotting, he asked them what they were up to, then said never mind, better he not know. I don’t believe that or the version you presented. Pretty much the whole team had to know.From memory, what happened was that they brought him in the loop, after which he shook his head at their stupidity, threw his arms up, and walked away.
Still should've received a life ban from the captaincy because that whole episode symbolised his lack of gravitas, at a time when it was most obviously needed.
The sandpaper might be new, but the ball tampering had been going on for ages (in all teams). no way the captain and bowlers didn't know.The whole thing was so harebrained I don’t see why it’s not believable that only the select few knew about it.
It was pretty blatant so hardly the work of an intricate network of criminal masterminds.
His story was, he saw them plotting, he asked them what they were up to, then said never mind, better he not know. I don’t believe that or the version you presented. Pretty much the whole team had to know.
Bingo!The whole thing was so harebrained I don’t see why it’s not believable that only the select few knew about it.
It was pretty blatant so hardly the work of an intricate network of criminal masterminds.
This. I don't believe for a minute that the bowlers didn't know.His story was, he saw them plotting, he asked them what they were up to, then said never mind, better he not know. I don’t believe that or the version you presented. Pretty much the whole team had to know.
I believe ball tampering had been going on for years, across all nations, and it was a team tactic.So what do you believe?
There's no evidence that he directly colluded in the plot - his failure was letting it go on.
As for the team's knowledge, there was likely to be some widespread knowledge that something was up, but plausible deniability would make it hard to implicate anyone besides Warner, Bancroft and Smith.
I believe ball tampering had been going on for years, across all nations, and it was a team tactic.
But as long as no one contradicts Smith, then yes, he has plausible deniability.
Yep, can file Smith under troublemaker and bit of an arsehole. Not the makings of a good captain. None of this should be in the public sphere.It's actually sad that Steve continues to undermine his teammate to return to the top job.
Laughable if actually trueHe's just said it to get that cricket academy in the news. He would have been asked/paid to say it by whoever is actually running the business side of that academy.
I have no doubt it's true in that he wants to be captain but I doubt he's mounting some villainous campaign to undermine Cummins at any opportunity. They'd just know that Smith saying he wants to be captain would get them in the news and people will eat it up. Those news articles then include links to the cricket academy.Laughable if actually true
The fact that Steve was happy to answer the question without any thought of the destabilising effect his answers would have is just further evidence he does not have the judgment to be captain.I have no doubt it's true in that he wants to be captain but I doubt he's mounting some villainous campaign to undermine Cummins at any opportunity. They'd just know that Smith saying he wants to be captain would get them in the news and people will eat it up. Those news articles then include links to the cricket academy.
It's been pretty well documented that Smith - at least, as a youngster - didn't have much of a plan B to fall back on if he didn't make it as a professional cricketer.The fact that its taken him 30 years to get some life perspective outside of cricket probably indicates that he's unlikely to ever be a good captain.
who'd wanna be captain if smithy is let into the fold...Who’d want to be Captain with Langer as coach?