Steve Smith and David Warner face off in a grade cricket match in Sydney

Beleaguered Australian players Steve Smith and David Warner played against each other in a grade cricket match in Sydney. The two players came together the first time in Australia since a ban was imposed on them for playing their part in the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town, South Africa in March 2018.

Steve Smith’s Sutherland stood triumphant over David Warner’s Randwick-Petersham at the Sydney’s Coogee Oval. However, former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson’s performance was the talking point of the match. Playing alongside Steve Smith for Sutherland, the retired all-rounder scored 63 off 41 deliveries with five sixes.

David Warner’s dismissal was also a noteworthy one as he was sent back for 13 runs when he slashed one to the gully fielder Austin Waugh, the son of former Australian captain Steve Waugh, who was a spectator among the 2,000 that turned out for the match. Steve Smith, in his team’s win scored 48 off 71 balls and bowled leg-breaks and was tidy, picking up a wicket and conceding a miserly 35 runs off his 10 overs.

Smith and Warner’s possible comeback

The Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) have made an appeal to Cricket Australia in order to lift their bans so that they could take part in the upcoming test series against the Indian team. Cricket Australia. As quoted by India Today, Cricket Australia’s CEO Kevin Roberts told the reporters “The ACA submission around the players’ sanctions was received by the board a few days ago.”

“It was addressed to the board rather than to me or all management. So not for me to comment on a board matter other than to say that the board will be respecting that submission and giving it due consideration.”

If the bans are removed, Australia will receive the much-needed boost which they are looking for. Additionally, the return of Steve Smith and David Warner will bolster their batting, a department in which the Australian team have been constantly struggling ever since the duo’s departure. If not, most likely the duo will be directly in the Cricket World Cup 2019 to be staged in England.