Jason Gillespie lashes out at Steve Smith, asks him to quit captaincy
Former Australia bowler Jason Gillespie has blasted skipper Steve Smith for resorting to ball-tampering and has asked him to give up captaincy for harming the reputation of the nation. However, Smith has got an unlikely supporter in former skipper Michael Clarke, who thinks Smith should be forgiven.
The biggest problem for the Cricket Australia wouldn’t be dealing with the current situation of Steve Smith, whose captaincy or rather cricketing career is at stake, but to restore the lost faith of the cricketing world on them.
Legendary Australian bowler, Gillespie, who has played 71 Tests for the Kangaroos in the dominant side of
"Steve Smith's time as Australia's captain is surely up. It is impossible to envisage a scenario where he stays in the job. This is a train wreck," wrote Gillespie in his column for the Guardian.
The Australian player’s behavior had already left a bitter taste in the series before the third Test and Gillespie emphasized on the behavior of the side that has set an image of being arrogant and unruly to the people outside. He also brought up the ball-tampering incident of 2016 when Australia, the hosts then, had categorically stated that they would never resort to such antics.
"This was pre-planned cheating...The reputation of a team who were already drawing scorn for their behavior has been torched. The brutal reality is that this team is seen as arrogant and all too quick to dictate 'the line' to others. It was not so long ago that Warner was ripping into (South Africa captain) Faf du Plessis for ball-tampering in 2016, saying Australia would never do the same. The events over the weekend have exposed this as rank hypocrisy," Gillespie added
Gillespie also stated that he would have been really surprised had his former teammate, Darren Lehman, been involved in the scandal although Smith has already confessed that the coach had no prior knowledge about it.
“I would be amazed if this was not the case and that the moves he (Lehmann) made when it all
However, despite all this criticism, one cannot deny the sheer quality of Smith as a cricketer and to some extent as a captain. Branded as the next Bradman, the 28-year-old has 23 centuries in Tests and has led the team to victories in many matches single-handedly. Hence, he was bound to find sympathy in many Australians with former cricketer Michael Clarke being one of them.
“I do feel for Steve Smith. 100 percent he has made a major mistake and he and a lot of other people I think are going to have to suffer the consequences. That’s fair enough. But I think it’s important that we do over time forgive as well,” Clarke told Channel Seven.
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