Steve Smith Accused Of Preferring Mates Over Performers

At a time when Steve Smith is having a tough time out on the field as a captain, former Australia fast bowler Rodney Hogg has made some sensational accusations against the under-fire skipper.

Australia’s already poor away record in recent times have been further worsened with three successive defeats against India in the ongoing five-match series,  The world champions have not won a single game in their last two away One-Day Internationals series and are headed in the same direction in the ongoing series against too. Last year, they suffered their first-ever whitewash in a five-match series against South Africa before New Zealand defeated them 2-0 earlier this year. And Hogg feels poor selection is one of the reasons behind Australia’s dismal performances as he accused Smith of favoring his friends over the players who are doing well.

Citing the examples of Ashton Agar and Hilton Cartwright,  Hogg told  SEN radio station: “They’re picking their mates. Smith shouldn’t be a selector. (Ashton) Agar’s been pushed through and (Hilton) Cartwright’s still there. We saw (Nic) Maddinson get selected (he’s) a mate, he’s one of Steve Smith’s mates. You can’t pick bl**dy mates,” 

“We’ve got to get fair dinkum. We’re really off the ball a bit here, I think the captain’s getting his own way. All the way down, there’s got to be question marks. All the way across Cricket Australia. (Jon) Holland has proven he can bowl people out, left-arm orthodox is a really hard. He’s proven it and we aren’t seeing him,” he added.

Read More  Navjot Singh Sidhu claims Virat Kohli will retire at the age of... 

Meanwhile, Steve Smith & Co. have already lost the series after losing the first three games. The defeat extended Australia’s dismal run  as they have now lost 11 of their last 13 ODI away from home with the other two being washed out.

An avid cricket lover, I just love this game more than anything. Writing about cricket keeps me closer to the game.