"Banning for life from leadership is just fundamentally wrong" - Steve Smith on the David Warner saga

Australia's star batter Steve Smith has condemned the lifetime leadership ban for his countryman David Warner. The 33-year-old highlighted that the entire saga has distracted the veteran opener.

After requesting Cricket Australia to overturn his lifetime leadership position, Warner has pulled out of the same. The 36-year-old withdrew his request after an independent panel allegedly defamed him and asked for a public hearing.

After a 419-run win over the West Indies in Adelaide, Smith stated that Warner has served his time like he did and conceded that he is an important part of their side.

As quoted by Perth Now, the right-handed batter said:

"From my point of view, banning for life from leadership is just fundamentally wrong. David served his time like I did. For us, we know he's a leader around the group, and on and off the field he's doing a tremendous job. It has been more of a distraction for Davey, no doubt, going through that himself."

The left-handed opener endured a lean time in the Test series against the West Indies, with 48 as his highest score in four innings. He is also yet to score a Test hundred since January 2020 and has a formidable South African bowling unit to face next.

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"South Africa’s probably the one team that have bowled pretty well to me" - Steve Smith

Steve Smith. (Image Credits: Getty)

Smith reflected that the Proteas have dominated him more than most teams and expects a stiff challenge from their four-pronged pace attack. As quoted by The Age, the New South Wales batter added:

"South Africa’s probably the one team that have bowled pretty well to me in the past, my record’s probably not quite as good against them as some of the others. Some of the bowlers I’m going to come up against again that I’ve come up against previously."

"South Africa have got Norjte bowling 150kph, Rabada 140-150 bowling slightly different, and then a left-armer in Jansen as well, and a good spinner in Maharaj. So they’re a really good attack, so it’s going to be a good challenge for our batters, and hopefully we can continue the way we’ve started the summer.

Australia strengthened their position at the top of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) table with a clean sweep against the West Indies. South Africa are second in the standings.