Shane Warne goes to bat for Steve Smith over ball-tampering disgrace
Shane Warne has launched a passionated defence of Steve Smith over the ball-tampering scandal that rocked Australian cricket.
In an interview with ABC’s ‘7.30 Report’ on Tuesday night, Warnie expressed his disgust at the cheating saga, but went to bat for Aussie skipper Smith.
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The Spin King admitted the ball-tampering was embarrassing and un-Australian, but felt the year-long suspensions for Smith and David Warner were too harsh.
“Steve Smith is a good person. He made a silly mistake. He made an error in judgment. I think in this country we’re too quick to hang people and just nail them,” Warne said.
“We cry out for characters and things then we cut people off so quickly as well.
“Steve Smith to me is a good guy. He’s a wonderful captain, a great player — he just made a silly mistake.
“I don’t think the punishment fit the crime. 12-month ban for that. It equate to a $10 million fine. I thought they were very hard done by.
“But having said that, we hated it and we didn’t like it and they have to earn our respect back.”
Cricket Australia ‘devaluing’ Shield cricket
Warne suggested Australian cricket is currently struggling and much of the problem lies not at international level but the competitions below.
“In any business you need the foundations to be strong. The foundation of Australian cricket has always been grassroots cricket, club cricket and first-class cricket,” Warner said.
“To me, I think Cricket Australia is devaluing Shield cricket.
“I’d like to see international players playing Shield cricket.
“And playing because they love it and they want to give something back to the game.”
Warne rarely agreed with fellow great Steve Waugh throughout the country’s golden era but the iconic pair share similar opinions about the current state of the Shield.
“We’ve got to go back to basics a bit. Have more respect for grade cricket, more respect for the Shield cricket,” Waugh told AAP last month.
“That’s why we were always strong.”
Waugh highlighted how international stars had been replaced during Shield matches in recent years, reducing those contests to being “almost fitness tests”.
“Once you lose that basis and strong culture, that’s why we’re in trouble,” he said.
“We’re crumbling a bit in those areas. There’s great pathways, coaching, facilities.
“But we just need to get back to that hard-nosed cricket at grade and Shield level, then you’ll see the best players coming through and developing.”
The issue has arguably never been more pertinent, with the next four Shield rounds to serve as a selection trial for Australia’s first Test against India.
A cramped schedule has made it increasingly hard for the nation’s best talent to play for their states.
Upcoming Shield rounds overlap with Australia’s limited-overs matches against South Africa, while Glenn Maxwell is among the Test aspirants missing this week’s first-class round to play a Twenty20 series against Pakistan in the UAE.
with AAP