Australian cricket legend Ian Chappell has expressed his dissatisfaction with the appointment of Steve Smith as vice-captain of the Australian Test team ahead of the opening Test of the ongoing Ashes 2021–22 against England, starting on December 8 in Brisbane.
He further said that Pat Cummins was rightly chosen as Australia’s new Test captain, but Smith as vice-captain is a controversial choice, while questioning the partiality in punishment for David Warner, as he highlighted the former skipper’s role in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
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Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNCricinfo: “Cummins is the right choice as captain. He is by far the most inspirational cricketer in Australia. If a teammate is not inspired by Cummins' heartfelt leadership, he's playing the wrong grade. However, Steven Smith as vice-captain is a controversial choice. How come Smith's leadership punishment carries a different weight to that of David Warner?”
He further added, “Cheating is cheating and both players indulged in the crime at Newlands in 2018. That being the case, their punishments should be identical but they are not.”
Meanwhile, Chappell believes that England must put on a strong show in the first Test in Brisbane to have any chance to win the Ashes; otherwise, Australia will easily retain the Ashes at home.
He further explained, “This is the hardest Ashes series to decipher. First, there are the controversies to be assessed on both sides; the Tim Paine crisis and the Azeem Rafiq Yorkshire debacle. Then, neither team has played much serious cricket in the build-up and therefore it's hard to equate the successors in each side. However, it's still the Ashes and one team will gain an advantage over the other.”
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Chappell signed off by saying, “It seems that England has to quickly establish their credentials at the Gabba or they will be overrun by an Australian team in the ascendant. England has that opportunity in the first Test. There is an unknown quantity about the pitch, Ben Stokes is making his comeback as a full all-rounder, and Pat Cummins is yet to establish his captaincy credentials.”
(ESPNCricinfo inputs)
