Cricket Australia boss Kevin Roberts defends controversial call to suspend Emily Smith
Cricket Australia chief Kevin Roberts suggests Emily Smith, banned for a year for posting a team-sheet on Instagram, may have been dealt with less harshly had she taken advice to remove it sooner.
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Cricket Australia boss Kevin Roberts has claimed Emily Smith ignored advice from fellow players to remove her controversial post from social media.
The women’s Big Bash player was suspended for 12 months after a self-deprecating joke she made on Instagram contravened the game’s iron-clad anti-corruption rules.
However, the heaviness of the ban has polarised opinion, with many leading voices around the game, including former CA chief executive Malcolm Speed adamant the punishment does not fit the crime.
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Roberts accused many commenting on the drama of being ill-informed about the full facts of the case.
The cricket chief inferred that Smith’s ban may not have been so heavy had she immediately acted upon correspondence urging her to remove the post.
Smith did not take the post down for an hour and a half, although it’s unknown for how much of that period she actually had her phone on her – with the players association describing the entire episode as a “comedy of errors” from several parties.
Roberts said there were key details that convinced him that the sentence – nine months of which are suspended – was fair.
“Learning a lot of the detail around it informed me. And respectfully, a lot of the people commentating on this don’t have the full context or information,” said Roberts on SEN Radio, while also expressing concern that the constant commentary on the saga might be impacting on Smith’s “wellbeing.”
“The education is very strong in this space.
“Within minutes of that post being made other female players were responding to it saying, ‘you can’t post that, people could bet on what you’ve just put up.’
“That’s what one player posted.
“Other players were saying, ‘you need to take that down.’
“Unfortunately it was up for an hour and a half and other players had identified after a few minutes ‘take it down, take it down’ and unfortunately, for whatever reason, it remained up for some time.
“There’s details like that.”
Meanwhile, Roberts revealed Cricket Australia would review its partnership with major sponsor Bet365 when the deal expires in two years’ time, as he responded to criticism from gambling reform head Tim Costello who described cricket’s relationship with bookmakers as shameful.
However, Roberts said ending the arrangement would not make any marked difference to the visibility of sports betting sponsorship.
“If we weren’t involved in any sports betting sponsorship whatsoever, the reality is it wouldn’t look any different to the fans on the broadcast,” said Roberts.