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Shane Warne branded reaction to the Australian ball-tampering scandal a “tornado of hysteria” on Wednesday and said the punishments meted out to Steve Smith and David Warner do not fit the crime.
Captain Smith and vice-captain Warner have been banned from representing their country for a year over the cheating incident during the third Test in South Africa, while opening batsman Cameron Bancroft has been suspended for nine months.
“We are all so hurt and angry and maybe we weren't so sure how to react,” Warne wrote on Facebook. “We'd just never seen it before.
“But the jump to hysteria is something that has elevated the offence beyond what they actually did, and maybe we're at a point where the punishment just might not fit the crime.”
The former leg-spinner — second on the overall list of Test wicket-takers — said Australia's enemies had taken the opportunity to put the boot in.
“There are those countries that don't like Australia, don't like individuals in the team, and there has been a build-up of hate which has exploded and created this tornado of hysteria,” he wrote.
“But what are the players guilty of? Cheating via ball-tampering and bringing the game into disrepute. Their opposing captain in this series, South Africa's Faf du Plessis, has been charged with the offence twice and opening bowler Vernon Philander once.
“The list of players who have been charged with ball-tampering is long and contains some of the biggest names in the game.”
Warne also questioned the idea of pre-meditated cheating.
“Are there levels of ball tampering, or is it just ball tampering? Is putting a mint in your pocket so you can shine a ball on the field pre-meditated cheating, or just ball-tampering. What about putting sunscreen on the ball? You either ball tamper or you don't.”
Warne said Smith, the top-ranked Test batsman in the world, was guilty of a “severe error of judgement”.
“I am still trying to wrestle with what I think the punishment should be,” he said. “They have to be harsh, but if they are rubbed out for a year, the punishment does not fit the crime.”
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Comments (41) Closed
Mar 28, 2018 08:56pm
Agreed with Warney, removing from Captaincy and Vice Captaincy would have been suffice. Ban seems to be too harsh, players involved in match fixing should be banned for life but they get away easily.
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Mar 28, 2018 09:37pm
The problem with these two is that they have been repeatedly in the spotlight for all wrong reasons. On previous occasions they were let off without much or any punishment. They started taking the system for granted. Let us just say the Karma caught up with them.
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Mar 28, 2018 10:20pm
Have to agree with Warne. Ban seems excessive but I think Smiths and Warner negotiating role in pay dispute with Australian Board has a part to play as well CA wants the sort them it seems
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Mar 28, 2018 10:24pm
I agree with what Warne is saying. But do not forget the punishment handed out to Amir, a mere teenager of 17 years, from a deprived background, who was under the influence of his captain and a senior player, when he got involved in spot fixing. No one outside Pakistan really spoke in his favour, and they could not wait to hand out most severe punishment to him. In comparison, these are well established players, mature enough. Where were these tweets or posts when amir was banned for 5 years?
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Mar 28, 2018 11:11pm
Warne, please give us a break, even in his playing days the Aussie team was involved in cheating, its just they got away with it. The question is why no Aussie bowler has been asked questions, surey ball tampering benefits the bowlers the most, seems like a cover up.
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Mar 28, 2018 11:19pm
Shane Warne has once got off the hook by powerful Australian Cricket Board. He wants that Aussies should get away with every offence, big or small. His reaction for Pakistani players would have been totally different.
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Mar 28, 2018 11:35pm
This act was too blatant. Punishment is just right. They have been caught cheating earlier as well but let go because those were subtle and had benefit of doubt.
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Mar 28, 2018 11:36pm
Come on Warney, is this really something you have never seen before?
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Mar 28, 2018 11:41pm
What if the accused were Pakistani or Indian or Sri Lankan or Bangladeshi player? They would have been put out to pasture for ever!! Right?
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Mar 28, 2018 11:58pm
Ball tempering is done to influence the outcome of the match so how come when a player takes performance enhancing drugs to influence the outcome of the match are banned for years and people who do ball tempering to influence the outcome of the game are only banned for 1 test.
I think CA took the right step
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Mar 29, 2018 12:01am
It happens so often that "Australian" or any western issues becomes a non issue after a little while. I remember reading favorable comments about Darrell Hair and Dean Jones, despite their wrong doings. Warne mentioned enemies of Australia, well Warne, Australia is the most successful hated team in the world and it is safe to attribute a lot of Australian "victories" to similar kind of cheating activities. I agree with Gaurav's comments below.
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Mar 29, 2018 12:11am
It may not matter to Warne because he himself was accused of leaking pitch information to bookies. So, in his mind, it may not be a big deal. But, this incident was premeditated. Aussies need to come to term with the way they have been playing cricket for sometime now.
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Mar 29, 2018 12:13am
Nope. Their sentences were light....
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Mar 29, 2018 12:38am
They ought to learn a lesson!
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Mar 29, 2018 12:42am
Better to set an example for all the players.
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Mar 29, 2018 12:51am
I agree with Warney 100 percent.
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Mar 29, 2018 01:59am
Any type of cheating whether ball tempering, spot fixing, must be dealt with iron hands if you want to keep the game's repute intact. Otherwise, this game of millions of people will not be watched by any.
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Mar 29, 2018 02:25am
They never see their crime big. They only see others crime big enough.
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Mar 29, 2018 02:34am
I think Shane makes sense. It certainly was embarrassing to see what happened live on telemonitors and then the in person confession on TV. However, punishment certainly is excessive. A ban for a match or two was just enough but for a whole year!,, no way!
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Mar 29, 2018 02:47am
What rubbish. Just a slap on the wrist. Too easy. In my humble opinion they should have been banned for life.
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Mar 29, 2018 02:54am
If a non-Australian had been caught in the act like these idiots, Warne would have been singing a different tune.
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Mar 29, 2018 04:53am
I completely disagree with the Warne. The 3 have brought game of cricket into disrepute and embarrassment to Australia as well total disrespect to South Africa.
Not once in a stament South Africa has been mentioned! That’s why they need to be punished. Warner in particular is a nasty individual, who must be punished, his track record suggests he has got away with it because ICC have two rules for white players and another rule for others!
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Mar 29, 2018 05:08am
Afridi ate the ball and yet remained Pakistani captain!
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Mar 29, 2018 05:22am
He should be ban for 2 years, were is I C C In this matter
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Mar 29, 2018 06:02am
Well if it was any of the South Asian country's captain doing this, it would have have been a big big issue among all the supporters. It is exactly the same as using the banned drugs, or anti doping or match fixing.
Any action illegal is illegal no mater what it is, they did it and was planed and recorded. Coach, captain and vice captain all were involved and it was very blatant. Its so surprising that a great cricketer like Shane Warne is supporting them and accusing that " “There are those countries that don't like Australia, don't like individuals in the team, and there has been a build-up of hate "
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Mar 29, 2018 06:06am
I sot of agree with Warne here.
People have taken advantage of the situation to met out some really harsh punishment to the Aussies.
Every single country in this world tampers with the ball.
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Mar 29, 2018 06:31am
Ok Shane, let us know how many times you did ball tampering. By the way, we know how Aussies would react if some other team did the same.
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Mar 29, 2018 06:33am
If it was a pakistani the whole world would be after them..they would seek life ban for them..aussies and Indians are cheats and cry babies when it comes to cricket and Shane Warne statement is a perfect example of that..
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Mar 29, 2018 06:44am
Totally agree, the corporate world of Australian Cricket Board has saved its big bosses and sacrificed the cricketers who are the real stars of the game.....
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Mar 29, 2018 06:48am
They should have been banned for . if a bowler does it it is different and he could be punished with a ban for a match or two but this was well planned and a team effort though in wrong direction. I wonder how do their bowlers feel as basically it says that they are not good enough without colloborative cheating.
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Mar 29, 2018 07:23am
I absolutely do not agree with Shane Warne. Ball tampering means cheating and as a top team leaders, they decided during lunch break to tamper the ball. "It was planned to cheat". Banning for a year will send a clear message to other cricketers to behave well and must not take things for granted.
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Mar 29, 2018 07:38am
Maybe those two are getting punished for all the cheating episodes involving Ozzies over the years, especially under Ponting and Clarke. They had turned cheating and getting away with cheeky dishonesty, into a fine art.
But credit to the Australian people to take it on the cheek and putting their actions where their mouth is. Really instructive to google why-all-of-australia-must-own-the-ball-tampering-scandal in smh au, it takes guts to admit mistakes and make a fresh start, unlike certain entities that still cannot admit to the problems plaguing them and make changes to their policies.
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Mar 29, 2018 07:44am
What would you have said, Shane, if it was Pakistans captain doing something like this? The whole world would have exploded, cheats! why have different standards for different people? Cheating is cheating done by an Australian or someone else. It should not go unpunished. Smith, may have been influenced by others to do it. I can never really believe that the manager was not aware of this. Completely incomprehensible.
Pity that Smith's career has been tarnished by something like this. How can he ever get back in the side?
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Mar 29, 2018 07:53am
@Cosmo
There is a difference Afridi ate the ball on an instinct.
What Austrailian did was with a plan.
A murder done in a heat of the moment and a premeditated murder have different punishment.
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Mar 29, 2018 09:54am
This speaks of the character and background of Aussies players. Shane Warne is no angel.
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Mar 29, 2018 10:25am
Sorry, I don't agree. Here the decision to cheat through ball tampering was premeditated. The trio had already decided to cheat. The punishment had to be exemplary.
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Mar 29, 2018 10:28am
If you have white skin it's OK to cheat a cording to Shane Warne, he used to
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Mar 29, 2018 03:49pm
What a stupid and silly joke?
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Mar 30, 2018 06:49am
Win, win, win doctrine claimed by the australians may be tip of an iceberg, incident demands further inquiry like for betting.
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Mar 30, 2018 11:02am
Unfortunately Shane Warne's own reputation and behavior both on and off the field has not been very good, so his support for the cheating trio is understandable. People are probably missing a very important point in this case. It was not a case of an impulsive and spontaneous error of judgement but a preplanned and premeditated cheating, which makes it so different from all other cases of ball tampering. If the player had committed this act on his own under pressure of the situation of the game, it would have been a totally different case. But preplanning an illegal and immoral activity as a group and then implementing it is totally another level of crime and therefore deserves a much harsher punishment.
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Mar 30, 2018 11:05am
@Mirza Karamat Baig, why even bother with removing them from their positions? Why not just let it go? Ball tampering is not a big deal, right Mr. Baig! Unfortunately the levels of morality have dropped so low that people like you don't consider preplanned and premeditated cheating any crime worth punishing.
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