'Don’t Know If It’s Fair To Make David Warner The Complete Scapegoat' - Says Michael Clarke

On the other hand, his colleague Steve Smith is set to lead Australia in the ongoing day-night Test against the West Indies.

David Warner in action. ( Image Source :PTI )

New Delhi: Michael Clarke, former Australia skipper has blamed the cricket board of his country for being double standards and making David Warner the "scapegoat”.  It has been close to four years since the ball-tampering scandal and Warner is still facing the leadership ban. On the other hand, his colleague Steve Smith is set to lead Australia in the ongoing day-night Test against the West Indies.

"You can tell he’s disappointed and frustrated,” Clarke stated on Big Sports Breakfast. 

"I think the other thing that probably hurts a little bit more is the fact Steve Smith is going to captain this Test match."

"I can understand Davey’s disappointment. In regards to where Davey is with his age, he’s unfortunately missed out on the captaincy opportunity in my opinion. I don’t think that’s the concern, it’s the fact it’s taken so long to process this or to get to where it’s at.

“I see it as very inconsistent. I find it very hard to believe it’s okay for one but not okay for the other to have a leadership role. If CA decided all the guys involved in what went down in South Africa, none of them were going to play a leadership role, I think that’s a fair call." 

Clarke reckons Warner has been made the scapegoat for the ball-tampering saga that took place in 2018.

“But if it’s okay for one, if it’s okay for Smithy, it’s got to be ok for (Cameron) Bancroft and it’s got to be okay for Warner.

“I don’t know if it’s fair to make David Warner the complete scapegoat and say everyone else can go back to normal. We’ll forgive you but we won’t forgive Davey.” Clarke further said he wasn’t 100 percent supportive of any of the three being involved in a leadership role and that the scandal would linger until they retire.

“There’s so much around how that was handled that was just not the right way,” Clarke said.

“Starting from doing the crime - let’s start there. How does it go away, don’t say anything? 

"The fact that there’s (only) bits and pieces of what went down is out there to protect so many people is the problem with all of this. If they want to make it public, the whole lot should be made public from start to finish. If it keeps coming up how do you move on? How does cricket move on? 

“Unfortunately for this Australian team, a lot of players that were involved then are involved now. So really it seems that until they retire this is just going to keep coming up because there are so many questions around what went down,” Clarke added.