Cape Town: Steve Smith has taken the International Cricket Council to task with an emphatic smack down of the decision to lift Kagiso Rabada's ban, indicating there was now a danger that that physical contact between players could become open slather.
In a strong pre-match missive that set the scene for another fiery encounter at Newlands, the Australian captain also questioned why he had not been called as a witness to the appeal hearing, given he was the player on the receiving end of Rabada's mid-pitch bump with his shoulder in Port Elizabeth.
Back in action: South Africa spearhead Kagiso Rabada is free to play after he successfully appealed his ban.
He sympathised with match referee Jeff Crowe, who he said had every right to be "annoyed", and slammed a claim on Vernon Philander's social media account that he had staged the incident.
Smith said he would not be instructing his fast bowlers to follow Rabada's example as a result of the backflip but left no doubt about the potential ramifications of the decision as he sees them.
"The ICC have set the standard, haven't they? There was clearly contact out in the middle," Smith said ahead of the third Test against South Africa, which begins at Newlands on Thursday.
"I certainly won't be telling my bowlers to go out there and after you take a wicket go and get in their space. I don't think that is on and part of the game. But the standard has been set."
Not happy: Steve Smith said physical contact on the field should not part of cricket.
Rabada's suspension was overturned after the ICC-appointed judicial commissioner, New Zealand's Michael Heron QC, found that the contact was not deliberate.
However, Smith was perplexed that he was never asked to give his version of events at a hearing that lasted six hours.
"It's pretty interesting when you're, I guess, looking for evidence and those kind of things. The other person involved (is) not getting asked about it is pretty interesting, I thought," he said.
Smith admitted he felt sorry for Crowe, whose finding that the contact was deliberate and inappropriate was tossed out by fellow New Zealander Heron.
"The way he handled both sides throughout the two Test matches, I thought he did a terrific job," Smith said of Crowe.
"I'd be feeling a bit annoyed if I was him, to be perfectly honest."
It was not only the ICC process in Smith's sights. He took particular issue with a late-night Twitter comment posted on Philander's account that, in football parlance, effectively accused the captain of taking a dive to get Rabada in trouble.
Philander later said his account had been hacked but Smith was angry to have his integrity called into question.
"I think that’s a bit over the top. I was just going down to chat to (batting partner) Shaun (Marsh)," he said.
"I had just been given out. So I was trying to see whether I could find a way to still be out in the middle. Unfortunately I couldn’t. I think that’s all a load of garbage to be honest with you."
There has been a change of officials at the halfway point of the series, as was always planned, and new match referee Andy Pycroft has already sought out senior players from both teams to lay down the law.
Smith, David Warner and Nathan Lyon have met with the Zimbabwean, as have South Africa's Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla.
Smith said he may seek out Pycroft for a further discusssion to discuss the fall-out of the Rabada decision.
"I might have a chat to him around what’s gone on," Smith said.
"Obviously they’ve deemed the contact not to be deliberate and set the line in the sand of what is appropriate and what’s not. We’ll see what he has to say."
Australia have had a habit of taking in medicine when it comes to the decisions of match referees to sanction players, in contrast with South Africa's often adversarial approach to officialdom.
The Australian spinner says the team respects the ICC's decision to overturn South African bowler Kagiso Rabada's two-match ban.
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Warner, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Marsh have all been reported for breaches of the code of conduct in this series and accepted the charges.
However, Smith said his team would now have to consider whether to contest penalties themselves.
"You always want your best players available to play so maybe, particularly now that we know people can get off, that's for sure," Smith said.
"That's a possibility in the future."
South Africa's captain, Faf du Plessis, sat in on Rabada's hearing and not surprisingly has a different take on events.
"I wish that I had this judge with me in Australia," said du Plessis, referring to his failed appeal in the 'mintgate' affair in 2016/17.
"I think it's really good for the game. I don't see a problem with having a fair system where a neutral guy sits and makes a fair decision and listens to both parties."
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricke...-set-on-physical-contact-20180321-p4z5ih.html
