I think CA got the bans right. Smith has never been a good leader and this has provided clear evidence why. Of all the ways to handle the press conference after, he decision to push it to Bancroft is the pure example of why he shouldn't be in that role again. He's a fantastic batsman. Do that if he can get back. It could be career destroying though.
Warner can do the travelling circus tours like Watson and co have done. He's finished. The big win for Australian cricket. Slogging your way through the new ball is not doing the job of an opening batsman.
Bancroft... 9 months. Suspect he will be back in shield for a long while. He shouldn't have been there over Renshaw anyway.
The coach has done the smart thing and called it time. Certainly not the way he would have wanted to do it, but it had to happen. It probably should have happened earlier than this imo.
What pisses me off is all the comments coming in from players from other countries. Countries who have accepted what the ICC has handed down and moved on. The way Smith was treated by the South African public is disgraceful, especially considering their captain has been caught twice doing it. Even Warner for that matter. CA let them all down badly on this tour. They needed to step in earlier and cancel the tour if the harassment didn't end. In some ways though, the players need to learn to have tougher skins if they are going to sledge.
The entire sh*t show has been embarrassing. Who would have thought this was going to be ok? Who would have thought they would get away with a ridiculous colored piece of tape, or that it was even likely to work in the first place? And then the entire trial by media circus that followed? And the hurried decisions to appease the media and fans. A more thought out solution was required. And some sensibility in how you are going to return them to home.
CA needs to take some responsibility here too. What a disaster of a tour. I hope the next time we tour that country, we go prepared. Its more savage than visiting Pakistan or India IMO.
