‘Cheating is Cheating’- Ian Chappel on Steve Smith Being Made Vice-Captain of Australian Test Team

Chappell’s point of discussion was the partiality of treatment between Smith and David Warner, who was also a part of the tampering scandal. But while Smith has returned to leadership, Warner still can’t take up any captaincy roles anytime in the future.

The legend said that Smith’s crime was a bigger one that that of Warner. Chappell expresses himself while speaking on 2GB’s Wide World of Sports radio on Saturday, November 27.

“For starters, I have a problem — why is Steve Smith looked upon as a different punishment to David Warner? In fact, if anything, I think Smith’s crime was greater. For a captain to say, ‘I don’t want to know’ when cheating is involved, is not correct.

“A captain’s got to know, he’s got to find out and he’s got to do something about it. Either Smith has a two-year ban from captaincy and so does Warner, or Smith has a life ban and so does Warner,” Chappell said.

“Cheating is cheating, whether it’s big cheating or little cheating, it’s still cheating in my book. If I’d have cheated as an Australian captain — I mean I made a lot of mistakes but I didn’t cheat. And if I had cheated, and if I had done what Tim Paine did, I would have expected Cricket Australia to not ask me to resign, they would have taken the job away from me and made sure I didn’t continue to play as a player,” he concluded.