Right. It now looks more and more likely that the ball-tampering comes down to Warner. Which means Smith either was a pushover, or turned a blind eye, or didn't know but covered for his teammates. 1/
It's clear that Warner has been erratic on this tour, and reports that some teammates want him out of the team hotel are especially telling. 2/
At times, I like David Warner. He's complex, and much smarter than people credit. I've written of this side of him before. But he can also be highly aggressive, and teammates say he's prone to massive behavioural swings. 3/
Just before the Durban Test, we did a Final Word podcast with him. He was eloquent, gave long considered answers, and wanted to be there. Days later he was exploding at South African players on the field. 4/
Even before they'd said anything back, there was something in Warner that was boiling over. And when de Kock did say something back, it was Warner's prompt to fully blow his top. 5/
This isn't to say that de Kock's comment was fair recompense. Attacking women bystanders to get a response from men is misogynist bullshit, and exactly the kind of attitude that makes organised sport so unwelcoming for women. 6/
What that comment did though, and the crowd abuse that followed, was set Warner on a dangerous path: feeling righteously better than the South Africans, and furiously wanting to smash them. 7/
You could see it in his batting in Cape Town, coming out and trying to put Rabada on the moon. No foot movement, walloping everything outside off, rather than the controlled drives that have become his signature. 8/
In that context, as the match was slipping away, I can imagine an angry Warner saying "F*** these c***s," and deciding it was justified to resort to anything. 9/
Anything to smash them, anything to silence the crowds. 10/
And then it's not hard to picture a younger player who wants to impress the superstar, so agrees to play along. And the question from there is what Smith knew, or guessed, and how early. 11/
The impression from outside the camp - and this may be wrong, I'm just piecing together observations and conversations - is that Smith can't control Warner. Instead Smith helps create space for him. 12/
Like all the "good tough cricket" nonsense about sledging - Smith isn't a sledged, it's not his game. Yet he sits in press conferences over and over, making allowances for it, and acting like he approves. 13/
It wouldn't surprise me at all if the current case was just the most recent and dramatic example. Meaning Smith either wasn't equipped to stop it, or tried to protect his teammate from suspension. 14/
None of which means Smith isn't culpable, of course. He's the leader, and if he can't control a teammate then he shouldn't be. If he didn't know about the plan beforehand, that means he lied about it afterwards. 15/
But Warner's involvement speaks of a player who lost the plot, and whose influence in dragging in a junior player is toxic and (literally) corrupting. 16/
When Warner was made vice-captain, some of us liked the idea. We thought responsibility might help harness his power for good. It looks like we were very wrong. 17/17
