m@tt wrote:Personally, I'd have gone with 6-9ish month bans, whatever puts them out of the (Aussie) winter tours and IPL. Allow them to come back for the next domestic season.
There are a few elements to the severity of the ban. It includes the stain on Australian cricket's image, and the in-progress media/broadcast negotiations. Then there's also the post-day press conference where they tried to come clean - there were a couple of statements that were misleading and the press release today says this was deliberate. That may well have turned the ban from 6 months to 1 year.
Overall, just one massive screw up and something cricket doesn't need. Whatever people think of Warner he's a damn good cricketer and Smith is just ridiculously good. It's a shame that they've screwed up their careers like this. Not beyond redemption, they can still add to their Test caps but how much will this change how they're remembered?
I think the problem with being allowed to come back for the home season is that the Australian public might not be ready, and as such, many would turn their backs on the game. I'm sure that many already have over this. Aussie crowds can be very savage toward certain individuals. And to add fuel to that, we have in this country a mindset set we love to build up our heroes, but we equally love tearing them down - this is referred to as "Tall Poppy Syndrome." Given the damage that this will do to our game, Oz crowds will need some time to forgive, and some may never forgive.
The public reaction can perhaps best be explained by taking a look at some events that preceded this current fiasco. It was less than 9 months ago that we had the very public standoff over central contracts. At one point, the Ashes were in jeopardy until the players demands were met. So basically we have a bunch of ridiculously over paid Prima Donna's who go on strike because their 7 figure salaries are not enough, then proceed to act like prats on and off the field, before finally finally deciding to cheat, popping down to Bunning's to buy some sandpaper, (and a couple of snags in bread too probably, if it were done on a Saturday) and recruiting the junior member of the team to carry out the darstardly deed. We've had the Clarke v Twatto saga, Then there was the Warner-Root punch on in an English pub, and before that we had Homeworkgate, where essentially, four players were suspended for their perceived lack of professionalism, and ultimately coach Mickey Arthur was fed to the lions. There was the Clarke-Katich dust up, which cost Katich his central contract. We had Punter v the Indians, Bucknorgate, Monkeygate, Squashballgate, the I've gone fishing-gate.
The Australian team has been a circus for too long, and the Australian public have had enough. Sandpapergate was the straw that broke the camel's back. And as we've seen today, Darren Lehmann, who was not charged by CA or the ICC, has resigned. The Oz public wanted blood, and that's exactly what they've got. The thing is, the clown who came up with this moronic idea has been inconspicuously tight lipped about the whole affair. Dave Warner is probably sitting in his waterside mansion waiting for his maid to serve him avocado toast for breakfast, before taking his Lamborghini for a spin down to the yacht club.
As for redemption, I think Steve Smith & Cameron Bancroft will work hard to achieve it. For Warner, as great a player as he was, his international career is over. The masses here will never forgive him. He may even end up moving to a tax haven, like Vanuatu, or the Cayman Islands. His goose is cooked.