Fans' penalty wishlist over the top for culprits

The fans have every right to be very angry by this blatant cheating but some of the penalties they wished to hand out were a little over the top.

Steve Smith. Picture: JOEL CARRETT

THE Australian public has always fully supported and backed our cricket side.

But after reading social media after Steve Smith owned up to ball tampering, it is safe to say that Australian Cricket now has a huge black eye.

When this huge story broke social media went into meltdown with a lot of fans venting their anger towards the culprits.

The fans have every right to be very angry by this blatant cheating but some of the penalties they wished to hand out were a little over the top.

Some fans wanted the perpetrators to be banned for life, some wanted the whole team to be called home while a suggestion of jail time was even mentioned.

Let's take a breath and sort through this huge mess that the ACB finds itself in.

Why would our captain in Steve Smith and vice-captain in David Warner be so stupid to think that with cameras everywhere in this day and age, to go and conspire with Cameron Bancroft to blatantly cheat in such a manner?

The win-at-all costs attitude must have outweighed the win-on-your-merits attitude.

Let's start with captain Smith, a man who recently was being compared to Don Bradman.

For him to go along with this idea I find totally out of character. But when you plead guilty it's hard to make a case for him to keep the captaincy let alone his place in the team in the short term.

Warner, on the other hand, has always been a fiery character. When trouble is brewing or has brewed his name is nearly always mentioned.

This is the same man that spoke on behalf of the players in the pay dispute that nearly cancelled the Ashes series.

I have no sympathy for him and being a repeat offender and apparently the mastermind of this debacle deserves everything he is handed.

Now to Cameron Bancroft, the man who carried out this act that has brought cricket to its knees in Australia.

He is a 25 year-old man, not a young player in his first Test, and should have known that what he was doing was totally wrong. He too must accept the sanctions that he received.

What is an appropriate penalty for these three cricketers in the firing line?

A total ban is going way too far but a punishment that fits the crime might be a three, six or 12 month ban, which gives them time to return, if form suggests, to the Test team. It's important to remember that no player ever caught tampering, and there had been a few, have served a long penalty.

The ACB must act and act fast to show future Test players that this is not the way Australia plays the game.

The ramifications are huge and sponsors of the game will be waiting for punishments before committing their dollars in the future.

Quick thoughts

HERO of the week: With the ball tampering reporting going on, a lot of the Australian public missed a great performance from Thanasi Kokkinakis who defeated the great Roger Federer in three sets.

Villain of the week: First it was Melbourne then Canterbury, followed by Parramatta, but the latest team Manly must suffer the humiliation of being caught cheating the salary cap.

The first three all lost points but the inconsistency of the NRL by only slugging them with a huge fine has fans scrambling for answers as to why they do lose any points.

Bomber's best: I happened to tip the Golden Slipper winner in Estijaab and I hope you all backed him too.

This week I see the Cowboys and Storm winning over the Panthers and Warriors respectively.

Did you know?

Souths star Eric Simms was a field goal expert kicking 29 in 1968. When he retired he had kicked a staggering 86.