BALL TAMPERING SAGA

New leaders will rise up and take side forward: Gillespie

by Cricbuzz Staff • Last updated on

"The reputation of a team who were already drawing scorn for their behaviour has been torched," Gillespie said. © Getty

The ball-tampering saga is not going to end anytime soon for Australia. After former cricketers Michael Clarke and Adam Gilchrist, it was time for Jason Gillespie to have a go at Steven Smith and his 'leadership group'. The former fast bowler reckons Smith's time as captain is over and wants new leaders to take Australia forward.

"This was pre-planned cheating. It may have been implemented by a junior player in Cameron Bancroft but it came with the backing and knowledge of the leadership group, a core of senior guys in the Australian set-up. The reputation of a team who were already drawing scorn for their behaviour has been torched," wrote the 42-year-old for the Guardian.

Smith has already been punished by the International Cricket Council (ICC), with the Australian captain being fined his full match fee and also handed a one match ban, while Cameron Bancroft was fined 75 per cent of his match fee and given three demerit points. Cricket Australia (CA) are conducting their own investigation and it is expected that there would be some serious repercussions.

Gillespie also pointed out that this is not the way to repay CA, especially after the stand-off between the players and the board last year, which saw the Australian team unite to broker a better pay structure.

"As a sport we are quick to tear into administrators at times but it is hard not to have sympathy for James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, in this instance. He should not be put in a situation by the players where he has to apologise to the supporters and the wider public. One could see the hurt when he did.

"Last year was dominated by a huge battle between players and the board, with the former earning an incredible deal by sticking together and staying strong. I have no problem with that whatsoever. But then to throw that goodwill back in the face of their employers and the public in this way is simply terrible," Gillespie added.

Smith and Warner stood down from their respective roles of captain and vice-captain for the remainder of the third Test in Cape Town, while Tim Paine took over the leadership responsibility - it was the first step taken to regain the trust of the Australian supporters, who were calling for the sacking of Smith and the 'leadership group'.

Gillespie certainly does not want the current group to continue as it has lost the trust of the Australian public and if the team wants to have the support of its fans, then plenty of new appointments need to be made.

"So the Australian men's team will now need to rebuild public trust from scratch. What must happen is a period of serious introspection. There are some fine individuals in the set-up, trust me, but as a team they need to re-examine how they play the game, along with their behaviour and image overall.

"Australian cricket will survive this and provided there is some honesty with the camp, it will hopefully emerge in better shape. New leaders will rise up and take the side forward. But it will not be Smith and it will not be Warner," Gillespie concluded.

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