'Cheating is cheating': Ian Chappell slams Cricket Australia for appointing Steve Smith as vice-captain

Australia has appointed Pat Cummins as the new captain of the Test side and Steve Smith as the vice-captain in the aftermath of Tim Paine's sexting scandal. Paine had stepped down as the captain of the Test side earlier this month due to his involvement in the sexting scandal. The wicket-keeper batter has opted for a mental break from cricket and will not feature in the upcoming Ashes 2021-2022.

While Cummins' appointment as the captain of the Test side has been welcomed by many, the decision to appoint Smith as the vice-captain of the side has not gone down well with many. Former Australian cricketer Ian Chappell has lashed out at Cricket Australia for handing out different treatment to David Warner and Smith.

Chappell is not happy with the fact that Smith has returned in a leadership role while Warner is barred from taking any captaincy roles in the future. Both Smith and Warner were banned for one year each by Cricket Australia for their involvement in the ball-tampering scandal which rocked Australian cricket in 2018.

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“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," said Chappell while speaking on 2GB’s Wide World of Sports radio on Saturday.

Chappell said both Warner and Smith should be banned from taking captaincy roles for life or they both should have the chance of leading the side. He called it unfair to bar Warner from leading the side while appointing Smith as the vice-captain.

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“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.

Chappell also shared his two cents on Paine's sexting scandal and said had he done the same mistake, he would have expected Cricket Australia to sack him as captain but let him continue playing as a player.

“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,” Chappell added.