Mar 7th, 2018

Mar 7th, 2018

Former Australian captain Ian Chappell says captain Steve Smith and coach Darren Lehmann need to take responsibility for sanctioning the on-field talk that has landed opening batsman David Warner in hot water.

Warner is facing the possibility of a suspension after being charged with bringing the game into disrepute, but Chappell says he’s not the only one who should be sidelined.

“A suspension would be appropriate because you need to stamp it out from the top down,” Chappell told Wide World of Sports.

“But Warner gets the suspension, and while he’s responsible for his own actions and words, he’s being allowed to do it by people above him. I’d like to see those above him suspended for sanctioning it. If you start taking strong action like that then you’ll get some sanity.

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“It’s always the same – the players pay the penalty for the stupidity of those above. Warner is being encouraged to be the attack dog.

“The laws of the game state the captain is responsible for the on-field actions of his players, so if Steve Smith is not stepping in he’s just as culpable.”

Warner was involved in a heated altercation with South Africa’s Quinton de Kock as the players left the field on day four of the first Test, with CCTV footage showing Warner being restrained by Australian players as he exchanged words with de Kock.

Warner facing ban from second Test

“I’ve been saying for 15 years that there’ll be fisticuffs at some point, and it must have come close in that stairwell,” Chappell said.

“It’s pretty obvious to me that the more you allow to be said on the field, the higher the chance that something personal will be said, and if it gets personal, you’ve got a situation on your hands.

“How stupid is it, when I read before the Test that the Australians might bait Kagiso Rabada because he’s close to being suspended? Surely if you’re the officials and you see that, you call the coach and captain in the day before the game and explain it won’t be tolerated, and the first bloke who puts a foot out of line will be suspended.

“I don’t want it to sound like nothing was said on the field when I played, because things were said. But it wasn’t premeditated. It wasn’t discussed in team meetings beforehand. Sometimes in the heat of the moment things were said.”

Chappell says teams should be relying on their cricket ability to bowl sides out, rather than their mouth.

“I wouldn’t be trying to stop the odd comment in a heated moment, because that happens. I wouldn’t be trying to stop gamesmanship, because that’s an important part of the game of cricket, and it’s responsible for a lot of the humour in the game.

“But the inane chatter, abuse and comments trying to unsettle players, you don’t need it. Are you saying you don’t have enough faith in your bowlers to take 20 wickets?”

Warner and de Kock have both been charged following the fracas, with Warner facing a level-two charge for conduct “bringing the game into disrepute”, while de Kock is facing a similar charge, but a less severe level-one grading.