The legacy of Steve Smith

[Ashes81]

What's the view of Smith in Australia?

Has sandpaper gate been forgotten or or will there always be a bit of a black mark against him.

 

[Chubb]

He was and is a great batsman, sadly for him what happened at Cape Town will always be a part of his legacy. He was not the instigator but he washed his hands of it and that was as great a failure of leadership as Australian cricket has seen.

That he came back from that with his incredible 2019 series and ongoing run scoring is to his credit. That he came back a less obsessive and more rounded person (at least from what we see) also says a lot about him.

I do think his career shows that hothousing young people into becoming sports stars may make the most of their talent but isn't very good for them as people, and he should really never have been made captain in the first place.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

He was and is a great batsman, sadly for him what happened at Cape Town will always be a part of his legacy. He was not the instigator but he washed his hands of it and that was as great a failure of leadership as Australian cricket has seen.

That he came back from that with his incredible 2019 series and ongoing run scoring is to his credit. That he came back a less obsessive and more rounded person (at least from what we see) also says a lot about him.

Fair and accurate summary

 

[GIMH]

He was and is a great batsman, sadly for him what happened at Cape Town will always be a part of his legacy. He was not the instigator but he washed his hands of it and that was as great a failure of leadership as Australian cricket has seen.

That he came back from that with his incredible 2019 series and ongoing run scoring is to his credit. That he came back a less obsessive and more rounded person (at least from what we see) also says a lot about him.

I do think his career shows that hothousing young people into becoming sports stars may make the most of their talent but isn't very good for them as people, and he should really never have been made captain in the first place.

In other words, he should have been banned for life. Agreed

 

[Shady Slim]

He will likely score as many runs as Kohli, Rahul and Gill put together. The trio is unlikely to be dropped and not even sure Rohit is fully fit. That makes it 10 other Aussies vs 8 Indians. And I am not banking on Bumrah due to his questionable fitness.

He had looked jammy in the past too. In the last trip, he scored one of the hundreds after being dropped like 4-5 times. That is what Smith does. He scores runs regardless of how he bats (good, bad or ugly).

if we're doing this silly mental arithmetic then you can just as easily assume dave warner and trav head likely won't make much of a dent in the score book and you're suddenly back to "eight aussies and eight indians" come on now lol

 

[TheJediBrah]

Has sandpaper gate been forgotten or or will there always be a bit of a black mark against him.

No one in Australia who actually follows cricket really thinks about tbh. There would be a section of the public that get all their information from reactionary news sources that probably think it's a thing though

From a different perspective, Tendulkar had more to do with ball-tampering than Smith ever did, or will, and I don't think many people consider it a black mark against him

 

[mr_mister]

Smith's involvement in ball tampering was down to fear of speaking up against big bad Warner. Clearly a shy guy socially. Definitely shouldn't have been captain but doesn't mean he's a bad bloke

 

[Burgey]

From a different perspective, Tendulkar had more to do with ball-tampering than Smith ever did, or will, and I don't think many people consider it a black mark against him

And Dravid.
And Faff
And Atherton
And Vaughan

 

[Shady Slim]

Smith's involvement in ball tampering was down to fear of speaking up against big bad Warner. Clearly a shy guy socially. Definitely shouldn't have been captain but doesn't mean he's a bad bloke

nah i'm as anti warner as anyone so this framing would be generous to me but don't all the contemporaneous excerpts basically suggest that his mind was so shot there's every chance he couldn't form a thought at that point?

 

[Burgey]

nah i'm as anti warner as anyone so this framing would be generous to me but don't all the contemporaneous excerpts basically suggest that his mind was so shot there's every chance he couldn't form a thought at that point?

You know whether or not the framing would be generous to yourself is kinda irrelevant, yeah?

 

[Shady Slim]

You know whether or not the framing would be generous to yourself is kinda irrelevant, yeah?

point being that if mr_mr's point was a potential one, i probably would've spent 100 posts pissing off everyone arguing it, whereas i don't really think it's an available line of argument

 

[Burgey]

Look, we all know if India had carried out the sandpaper incident, Bancroft would have got a $500 fine (paid by the Madras Rubber Factory) and been made skipper within 3 tests. He’d have been the new Dravid.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Dont think Smith would give a hoot about his legacy in all honesty

 

[duffer]

No. The difference in batting averages is still a whopping 40. I get what you mean though.

This can be explained away by 'eras' I think

 

[duffer]

Look, we all know if India had carried out the sandpaper incident, Bancroft would have got a $500 fine (paid by the Madras Rubber Factory) and been made skipper within 3 tests. He’d have been the new Dravid.

This is the appropriate course of action though. None of this overaction crap

 

[Burgey]

This is the appropriate course of action though. None of this overaction crap

Agreed. CA completely ballsed up the response, but they were always going to because they’re probably the worst run sporting organisation in australia. Even worse than rugby or soccer.

Honestly, if I saw James Sutherland on the street I’d throw rocks at the ****. Seemed on a mission to ruin Aus cricket

 

[TheJediBrah]

I'll never get over the irony that CA did all this in an attempt to protect their image by appearing harsh on law-breaking when in reality they've done more damage to the reputation of Australian cricket with the excessive punishments by making it look so much worse than it was.

If they'd have just gone with the ICC punishments everyone would have forgotten about it (relatively speaking) in a few weeks

 

[Shady Slim]

i think the punishments were fine lol

 

[Slifer]

This can be explained away by 'eras' I think

Doubtful and certainly not to the extent of a 40 run difference. Otherwise, Hutton who was a contemporary of the Don, could be rated at the same level as a Kraig Braithwaite.

 

[duffer]

i think the punishments were fine lol

C'mon man. 'Test cricketer roughing up ball' is about as scandalous as 'pro wrestler taking roids.'

The punishments were insane