Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc has clarified his earlier comments in this week on the ball-tampering scandal during Cape Town Test. Starc has now claimed that the team’s relationship is still intact.
In the recent reports, Starc has recently commented on a ‘Women in Banking and Finance forum’ in Sydney that the press conference after the ball-tampering scandal affected the other reputations.
After Cameron Bancroft was caught to tampering the ball during the day 3 of the Cape Town Test between South Africa and Australia, skipper Steven Smith and Bancroft held a press conference where Smith had claimed that the team’s ‘leadership group’ was the decider to conduct that incident.
Later, it was known that the vice-captain David Warner was the only other man in the leadership group. But according to The Australian, Starc said that the team’s relationship was broken after that Smith-Bancroft press conference.
In a result, Warner and Smith faced the one-year bans from the international and domestic cricket while Bancroft has been suspended for nine-month the international and domestic cricket. Moreover, Warner couldn’t be captain the national side anymore while Smith and Bancroft will have to wait one more year to be able to lead the side.
Clarifying his earlier comments on team’s broken relationship, Starc commented recently, “Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of attending a ‘Women in Banking and Finance’ forum in Sydney with my wife Alyssa. I was invited as one of the guest panelists at the event, which provided some fantastic insight from some very successful and influential businesswomen in understanding the role we play in managing our own personal and professional reputation.”
“My comments at the forum were provided in the context of a particular topic, as it related to being honest and authentic in delivering a message. This context has unfortunately been lost in certain media reporting and headlines in recent days. But fundamentally there are many things that we can all learn from recent events in South Africa.”
“It was such a stressful time in our lives. There was strain on relationships both as individuals and as a team. However, the relationships of that group remain very much intact. I look forward to the opportunity to play alongside every one of my team-mates from that tour again. We still have a long way to go in rebuilding the trust with the Australian public and I know personally, that I am 100% committed to doing that.”
Starc further added that he has huge respect for his former captain Steven Smith.
Starc said on that, “Despite reports to the contrary, I continue to have the utmost respect for Steve Smith as captain, team-mate and friend and I look forward to having him back in our great game soon.
“That goes for David and Cameron who have also been through an extremely tough time. It is good to see all three guys planning to be back in cricket soon in different competitions around the world. Rebuilding trust and developing a positive reputation will take time and through our actions, we hope to demonstrate this to cricket fans everywhere.”
Starc also claimed that the team is now focusing on the upcoming games. After the ball-tampering scandal, Australia will play their first series against the hosts England for the 5-match ODI series and one-off T20I.
Starc further added that under the new head coach (Justin Langer) and the new captain (Tim Paine), Australian cricket team wants to make a comeback in the game.
The left-arm pacer said, “The process has already started and the focus now should be on the cricket being played and the stories of performance and change in the current series, led by new Aussie coach Justin Langer, captain Tim Paine and the current team over in the UK. To all stakeholders and fans out there, please stick with us. Trust me when I say we all love the game as much as you do!”
