Legendary Australian cricketer Ian Chappell has lashed out at Cricket Australia (CA) for appointing Steve Smith as the vice-captain of the Australia Test team, saying "cheating is cheating" referring to his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
Notably, the former skipper Smith, his deputy David Warner and team-mate Cameron Bancroft were banned for different periods by Cricket Australia (CA) for their roles in the sandpaper-gate incident.
While Warner is banned from captaincy in Australia for life, Smith was banned from leadership duty for 2 years and now he was named vice-captain of the Australian Test team, which irked Chappell and he questioned CA’s why the right-hander is looked upon as a different punishment to the opener.
The legendary cricketer also mentioned that had he cheated as an Australian captain, the CA would have taken the job away from him and made sure he didn't continue to play even as a player.
Chappell said on 2GB's Wide World of Sports Radio on Saturday: “I wish that Cricket Australia had made a clean break, but for Cricket Australia to get anything right at the moment is asking a bit much.”
He further explained, “For starters, I have a problem -- why is Steve Smith looked upon as a different punishment to David Warner? In fact, if anything, I think Steve Smith's crime was greater. For a captain to say, 'I don't want to know' when cheating is involved, is not correct.
A captain's got to know, he's got to find out and he's got to do something about it. Either Steve Smith has a two-year ban from captaincy and so does David Warner, or Steve Smith has a life ban and so does Dave Warner. Same thing.”
Chappell further said that had he committed such an indiscretion, Australia’s governing body would never have forgiven him, and they probably shut the door on him for life.
He signed off by saying, “Cheating is cheating, whether it's big cheating or little cheating; it's still cheating in my book. If I'd have cheated as an Australian captain -- I mean I made a lot of mistakes but I didn't cheat. And if I had cheated, and if I had done what Tim Paine did, I would have expected Cricket Australia to not ask me to resign, they would have taken the job away from me and made sure I didn't continue to play as a player.”
