Melbourne: Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has accused the country’s Cricket Board of double standards, saying David Warner was made a “scapegoat” following the ball-tampering scandal.
Four years after that episode, Warner is still banned for life from captaincy, while Steve Smith, who was as guilty as Warner in that case, is captaining the day-night Test against the West Indies. An angry Warner on Wednesday withdrew his application to lift the life ban from captaincy.
Clarke said on the Big Sports Breakfast, “He is disappointed and sad. He will be even more unhappy that Steve Smith is being given the opportunity of Test captaincy.
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He said, “I can understand her frustration. He was stripped of the captaincy. The attitude of the board has also been volatile. It is unbelievable that some rules for one and something else for another. If the board felt that all those involved in that matter in South Africa would have been kept out of the captaincy, it would have been fair.”
He said, “But Warner’s ban remains intact and Smith has been made captain or if Cameron Bancroft also gets a chance then why not Warner.” He has been made a scapegoat.” (agency)