OPINION: STEVE Smith should not be Australia’s cricket captain. A self-confessed cheat has no right to lead the nation’s XI.
His behaviour in concocting a ball-tampering plan with his leadership group during the third Test in South Africa was immoral, unsporting and demeaning.
Smith will forever have a stain on his name and it is wrong for him to be skipper.
The holder of that job may be aggressive (Ian Chappell), ruthless (Allan Border) or relentless (Ricky Ponting) but he cannot be deliberately dishonest in his approach to the game.
Australians have accepted, some grudgingly, that the national men’s cricket team takes a gung-ho attitude to play, with sledging have long been a contentious issue.
However, it is clear from the reaction to Smith’s behaviour they have no tolerance to cheating.
The outrage has been massive and support for Smith is as rare as a good Newspoll for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s government.
In light of that it is hard to fathom why Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland appeared so unwilling to get on the front foot in his media conference on Sunday.
Sutherland said he was concerned about the spirit in which the team played cricket, but he admitted not speaking to Smith and declined to use the word cheating instead saying it was a “sad day”.
The administrator said “process” needed to be followed and a Cricket Australia investigation undertaken.
Of course there should be a full probe into Smith’s action as well as the roles of other players and coach Darren Lehmann in the ball tampering affair, but the prima facie evidence is damning.
Smith has said "I'm incredibly sorry for trying to bring the game into disrepute the way we did” and player Cameron Bancroft confessed he interfered the ball.
For Smith to say “I still think I’m the right person for the job” is indicative of somebody in a bubble and he would be pig-headed if he did not change his view after the groundswell of fury from his compatriots.
Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett was among the hardest, tweeting – “A disgrace of the first order. All involved should be banned from international cricket for life”.
That’s unlikely, but Smith needs to go and the culture that fostered this decision should be radically overhauled.
