Bancroft, Smith revelations don't make it tough for Warner comeback: CA chief Kevin Roberts

The outgoing year has been one of the worst in the history of Australian cricket, thanks to the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in March, and now as 2018 inches towards the end, the controversy seems to have renewed. Of the three players who faced ban because of the scandal, Cameron Bancroft and Steve Smith have given some explosive interviews recently that could see the third member David Warner face even a bigger backlash.

Bancroft, who has played just eight Tests and a single T20I for Australia, was handed over a ban of nine months compared to 12 to the other two senior players. He blamed Warner in the interview saying it was him who had instigated the evil plot to use sandpaper and make the ball rough.

The 26-year-old claimed that he went along “to fit in” and because he “didn’t know any better”. Last week, Steve Smith, who was the captain of the squad that lost to the Proteas in that infamous Test series, also spoke up on the incident and distanced himself from the plot even while admitting that he had miserably failed as the leader by turning a blind eye to it.

CA chief Kevin Roberts sympathises with Warner

While Bancroft’s claims were predicted to put Warner in further distress, Cricket Australia (CA) chief Kevin Roberts who took over a couple of months ago denied that the revelations had isolated Warner and made it more difficult for him to return to international cricket. Australia have struggled to find a replacement for Warner as the opener and have tried a number of players – from limited-over specialists to middle-order batsmen to freshers – to fill the shoes of the dashing left-handed batsman.

“I don’t know if it does (make it harder for Warner). Our focus is to work with Dave, who I spoke to about three days ago, on his integration plan when he is eligible for selection again,” Melbourne’s SEN sports radio quoted Roberts as saying. “Our focus is on how we proactively look forward and work with the players, rather than be concerned with what has happened in the past.”

The cricket administrator also said that the timing of the interviews was not right as the national side was playing in a crucial Test series against India which is currently tied 1-1 at the moment with the third Test underway at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

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