Australia tour of South Africa 2018

[Llewelynf]

This is lit AF!

Best ad ever

 

[hammadahmed88]

Still not even a mention of South Africa from Sutherland or Lehmann. I'm inclined to believe he wasn't involved, fine. Let's take him at his word however unbelievable that might be. But to not acknowledge the South African team in an apologetic manner is still in incredibly poor taste. The punishments seem fine to me, if not a bit on the harsher side but I suppose it was necessary.

 

[Snowy]

I fail to believe this "leadership group" only contains Smith and Warner. If it did, Smith should have said him and Warner orchestrated the plan during press conference but Smith kept repeating that leadership group knew about it. This all seems little fishy here. Either CA is trying to protect others who were involved or Smith/Warner are taking the hammer on themselves because of them being the obvious choice. As others have mentioned, there is no way Lehman wasn't involved in this.

They were willing to lie about the sandpaper. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were willing to lie about the leadership groups involvement in order to try and deflect blame

 

[Saeglopur]

Yeah, from what we've heard- I think Smith was just trying to deflect from individual responsibility by, in his own words, not naming names, without realising how big the reaction was going to be. I can't imagine it would have gone well if he'd thrown Warner under the bus right after they'd come of the field, but yeah, lying in the press conference hasn't helped them in the end.

Still not even a mention of South Africa from Sutherland or Lehmann. I'm inclined to believe he wasn't involved, fine. Let's take him at his word however unbelievable that might be. But to not acknowledge the South African team in an apologetic manner is still in incredibly poor taste.

For what it's worth, Sutherland apologised to Cricket South Africa back on Tuesday in his first press conference after he arrived. I can see why their focus is primarily on the Aussie fallout otherwise though. Good to see Lehmann of all people coming out at last and saying the team culture needs to change. There's a huge but welcome irony in him also mentioning New Zealand as an example they might need to follow.

 

[hammadahmed88]

Yeah, from what we've heard- I think Smith was just trying to deflect from individual responsibility by, in his own words, not naming names, without realising how big the reaction was going to be. I can't imagine it would have gone well if he'd thrown Warner under the bus right after they'd come of the field, but yeah, lying in the press conference hasn't helped them in the end.



For what it's worth, Sutherland apologised to Cricket South Africa back on Tuesday in his first press conference after he arrived. I can see why their focus is primarily on the Aussie fallout otherwise though. Good to see Lehmann of all people coming out at last and saying the team culture needs to change. There's a huge but welcome irony in him also mentioning New Zealand as an example they might need to follow.

That's fair then I guess. Honestly, I'm more ticked off at the higher-ups in Australia than the players. I'm not the biggest fan of Warner, but this penalty is a bit on the harsher side for me. A few series would have been fine I think. If anything, they should think about cleansing the system. I never liked how they all handled the Micky Arthur situation either. He was trying to change the culture there and they should have given him a bit more leeway. Not changing the coach will bring the same old thing I'm afraid, but I hope that's not true. After all that's said, Warner and Smith were two of the best in world cricket and it was fun to watch them bat. At the end of the day, no one wins here.

 

[ParkedTheBus]

I am disgusted at this to say the very least. This is absolutely not the way to treat one of the best players your country has ever produced. You can see how much he's hurt and what this means to him. On the plus side, he needs to use this year's break to work on his technical shortcomings to adapt to shorter forms and improve his fitness which has been declining of late. Writing off all of Australia's series over the next 12 months.

Link (to a tweet from CA) doesn't seem to be working.

 

[Dutch]

It is a reminder that there is a real human drama to this all and I receive no joy whatsoever seeing guys struggle like this.....although with Warner it feels different to be honest.......there is a bit of satisfaction there.

 

[zwarrior]

I am not a huge fan of Smith but 1 year ban seems very harsh. Maybe all three could have been handed a ban of one series or two. Just saw the video of Smith at the airport and him addressing the media and I feel so sad to see him like that. He is in real pain. I am sure he will overcome it and come back stronger.

 

[Llewelynf]

It is a reminder that there is a real human drama to this all and I receive no joy whatsoever seeing guys struggle like this.....although with Warner it feels different to be honest.......there is a bit of satisfaction there.

Out of the three. Two of them have faced the media twice and in both instances showed balls. Yeah sure, they lied on Saturday but THAT GUY, just posted something on his Twitter. Shows me a lot about his character.

 

[Llewelynf]

video of Smith at the airport

I am South African I can honestly say the Police are not violating him or making him feel like a criminal there, they are protecting him from media and public. Watch how the police have to push others away from him. The thing I did find interesting is how he is in casual clothes instead of Aus kit. Its as though he was not allowed to.

A lot of sponsors are dropping CA already, Magellan has not even been major sponsors for a year and have dropped them.

 

[zwarrior]

I am South African I can honestly say the Police are not violating him or making him feel like a criminal there, they are protecting him from media and public. Watch how the police have to push others away from him. The thing I did find interesting is how he is in casual clothes instead of Aus kit. Its as though he was not allowed to.

A lot of sponsors are dropping CA already, Magellan has not even been major sponsors for a year and have dropped them.

I observed what you just said but I didn't mean that. I knew police were protecting him. What I meant was his facial expression.

 

[Llewelynf]

I observed what you just said but I didn't mean that. I knew police were protecting him. What I meant was his facial expression.

Its all cool. Just quite a few high profile people like Warne went to say he was being man-handled like a criminal so I just wanted to clarify.

He does look like a broken man though. You can see the genuine pain he is in. He looks sorry. Not like Lance Armstrong in that Oprah interview. He was arrogant and brash almost.

 

[Gurjot95]

I truly feel sorry for Smith right now. I saw two videos, one where crowds were chanting cheats and media shamelessly questioning him on airport and then where he breaks down in his press conference. Those aren't fabricated tears, he truly feels sorry for what he did and now has to live himself with this. I can't even imagine what he is feeling right now when you have to hear cheat chant all your way to home and getting ripped from the only thing you love to do for whole year.

For Warner however, I don't think he can even come out with his fake tears even if he wanted to.

 

[CerealKiller]

I think Smith should've got 9 months too. Warner deserves the biggest punishment. He hasn't even come out and faced the press. What a coward.

 

[Saeglopur]

Yeah, I too feel sorry for Smith and Bancroft (to a lesser extent), though their lying about it after didn't help them and Smith being captain is obviously held accountable a bit more. I do think it's harsh to ban them from domestic cricket too though. Have a ban on them representing the national side for a while if you must, but for Smith to not even be able to get himself back into form in the Sheffield Shield later in the year is tough on him.

Edit - There goes Lehmann...