Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has criticised the choice of Steve Smith as vice-captain of the Test team, three and a half years after the ball tampering scandal in South Africa.

Elsewhere, England Ashes winner Steve Harmison says making Pat Cummins Australia’s Test captain is a “big gamble” that could backfire at the Ashes.

Michael Clarke has also urged selectors to pick Alex Carey over Josh Inglis, and England director Ashley Giles will support any refusal from his players to continue playing in the event they receive any racial abuse from crowds this summer.

All this and more in today’s Ashes Daily!

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‘CHEATING IS CHEATING’

Former captain Ian Chappell has hit out at Cricket Australia over its decision to appoint Steve Smith back into a leadership role, three and a half years after his suspension for his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal.

Chappell, who captained his country for 30 Tests between 1971 and 1975, condemned the decision to reinstall Smith, albeit as a vice-captain this time, and insisted his crime of burying his head in the sand over what was happening within his team is even greater than that of David Warner or Cameron Bancroft.

“I wish that Cricket Australia had made a clean break, but for Cricket Australia to get anything right at the moment is asking a bit much,” Chappell said while speaking to 2GB’s Wide World of Sports. “Cheating is cheating, whether it’s big cheating or little cheating, it’s still cheating in my book.”

“Why is Steve Smith looked upon as a different punishment to David Warner? In fact, if anything, I think Steve Smith’s crime was greater. For a captain to say, ‘I don’t want to know’ when cheating is involved, is not correct. A captain’s got to know, he’s got to find out and he’s got to do something about it”.

Chappell also believed that Tim Paine was let off lightly in being allowed to resign himself rather than being sacked.

Paine is unlikely to play Test cricket again after taking an indefinite break from cricket, despite Australian team management indicating they would have liked him to continue as ‘keeper.

“If I’d have cheated as an Australian captain – I mean I made a lot of mistakes but I didn’t cheat,” Chappell added. “If I had cheated, and if I had done what Tim Paine did, I would have expected Cricket Australia to not ask me to resign, they would have taken the job away from me and made sure I didn’t continue to play as a player.”

‘NO BRAINER’ CALL TO REPLACE PAINE

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has called for South Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey to wear the gloves for Australia at the first Test, while his Redbacks coach Json Gillespie has compared him to Adam Gilchrist.

Carey is yet to earn a baggy green but has played 45 ODIs and 38 T20Is for Australia to go along with 45 first-class games, in which he averages 34.73 with the bat.

On Sunday, the 30-year-old sent a message to selectors by making 101 runs off 93 balls against Queensland in the One-Day Cup.

Carey’s main competition is Western Australia wicketkeeper Josh Inglis, but Clarke believes the call should be clear cut.

“It’s a no-brainer,” Clarke said on Big Sports Breakfast. “The dude just made a hundred. Talk about under pressure.

“Alex Carey walks out under the most amount of pressure, everyone fighting for a job, people questioning ‘is he next in line?’ and he makes a hundred.

“Come on, this guy is ready.”

He added: “I don’t know Josh Inglis at all. I’ve seen him play a handful of short-form games and he looks very talented ... he might have a bright future but for now, to me, it’s a no-brainer.”

Meanwhile, Gillespie told SEN that Carey “ticks a lot of boxes” and cited the encouraging precedent Gilchrist set more than 20 years earlier.

“I can’t speak for the Australian selectors and what their criteria is, but Alex Carey ticks a lot of boxes,” Gillespie said on SEN SA Breakfast.

“He’s got international experience, he’s got experience around the world, he’s captained Australia, he’s performed very strongly in other formats of the game and he’s been in and around that Australian set up for a while now.

“For me, there’s a lot of synergy between when Adam Gilchrist was first selected just shy of his 29th birthday and when he was in and around the One Day set-up for years and Alex Carey now who’s just turned 30, he’s in the prime of his career.

“I say get him in, he’s ready to go, his game is in great order, and he will do a fine job for Australia if given the opportunity.”

Australia assistant coach Andrew McDonald said on Sunday that the decision from selectors is still “up in the air”.

“I think if it was clear then there would have been an announcement, so I’m sure that the selectors will be taking all the information in the last game today, I think, domestically before we switch out our focus into the Test match,” he said.

AUSTRALIA’S ‘BIG GAMBLE’ ON CUMMINS

Former England quick Steve Harmison believes Australia may have shot itself in the foot by making Pat Cummins Test captain over Steve Smith.

Cummins was on Friday announced as Australia’s 47th Test captain and Smith his deputy following the resignation of Tim Paine.

Speaking on the Cricket Collective podcast, Harmison said he believes that the decision suits England rather than Australia.

“I don’t think this is the Australia of old … it’s a big call,’’ he said.

“I think England would be happier with Cummins than Steve Smith. For me, if you put too much pressure on Pat in the Ashes that could prove the difference, because both batting units are frail and can be got at.

“I look at that decision being a big gamble for Australia. If there is nobody else, fine. I am not Australian, but I think if you had a natural leader there who has done the job before, you would have to go with him.

“If I was an Australian, I would not have a problem with Steve Smith coming back.”

ENGLAND’S WALK-OFF THREAT

Speaking in the midst of England’s racism scandal, England director Ashley Giles said that the national team won’t be willing to accept any discrimination from crowds during this summer’s Ashes.

He said he would back captain Joe Root should he decide to halt play in the event of any racial abuse.

“I’d certainly trust Joe Root to do what is right on the field,” Giles said, according to The Telegraph.

“If he chose to bring the team into the middle of the field and stop the game while that was investigated then absolutely. I don’t think any of our players should be subject to any abuse actually but discrimination and racism particularly.”

Two years ago, the England national football team twice stopped a match against Bulgaria due to abuse.

Last summer, play on day four of the Sydney Test was stopped after India quick Mohammed Siraj claimed a section of the crowd was racially abusing him.

Teammate Ravichandran Ashwin said after the day’s play that he has experienced vile abuse across a decade of tours of Australia, particularly in Sydney.

Giles says cricket has to do much better in tackling racism but pleaded for those who had made “mistakes” to be given a second chance.

“For me if zero tolerance means we cut people off, we don’t give second chances, we don’t give people a chance to rehabilitate then I think we’ve got a problem,” he said.

“We all do make mistakes and we will again but we have to be able to tolerate and educate and rehabilitate, otherwise people aren’t going to open up, they’re not going to share their experiences.”

PERTH TEST IN FURTHER DOUBT

Melbourne and Sydney have reportedly firmed in their bid to host a second Ashes Test as doubt continues to surround the series’ Perth finale.

Newscorp senior cricket writer Robert Craddock reports that behind closed doors, senior figures are pessimistic about Perth’s chances of hosting the fifth Test due to state border restrictions.

WACA chief Christina Matthews said on the weekend that Perth was a 50-50 chance of hosting the Test in January, although the actual likelihood is being considered by eastern state officials as far lower, Craddock reported.

England has previously said it will not agree to go into hard quarantine mid-tour having already completed a stint on their arrival in Queensland.

WA premier Mark McGowan said on Sunday that he wouldn’t hesitate to keep the state’s borders shut if the new omicron strain of coronavirus spreads in other states.