Smith, Warner's form in T20 leagues key to World Cup selection: CA

CEO Kevin Roberts on Friday said that the performance of Steve Smith and David Warner in the forthcoming T20 leagues around the world will play a key role in their selection in the Australia World Cup team next year

Cricket Australia CEO Kevin Roberts said on Friday that the performance of Steve Smith and David Warner in the forthcoming T20 leagues around the world will play a key role in their selection in the Australia World Cup team next year.

Followed by the Indian Premier League, both Smith and Warner will be competing in the Bangladesh Premier League next year and Roberts said CA will observe how the Australian batting duo performs in all the T20 events.

"We'll obviously take their form in those tournaments into account, so that will be important to watch," Roberts was quoted as saying by ABC Radio.

"There's got to be consistency, fairness and justice in our selection criteria and so that's our focus on making the road as smooth as possible," he added.

Australia has been struggling in the absence of Smith and Warner. Few months back, they lost both Test and T20 series to Pakistan in the UAE.

Smith and Warner were handed a 12-month ban while Cameron Bancroft was banned for nine months, a punishment termed "harsh" by many former players.

While serving his one-year ban, Smith has participated in several T20 competitions.

"From what I hear around the traps, there are no concerns with the form of Steve and Dave, so it's just a matter of that continuing out in the middle as opposed to in the nets," Roberts said.

"And us assessing that, and communicating with them as frequently as possible over these next few months," he said.

Smith and Cameron Bancroft recently opened up about the infamous ball tempering incident that shook world cricket in March. The duo made it clear in their recent interviews that Warner was the instigator of the ill-fated plan in Cape Town.

Cricket Australia CEO Kevin Roberts on Thursday said they have no plans of dumping David Warner despite unflattering statements by Smith and Bancroft.

"I don't really know. But I think what's important is our commitment to that integration process, working with the three sanctioned players," the CA chief said.

"Making sure that we've got selection criteria that are the same for all players, whether they are the sanctioned players or not," he added.