Ponting 'shocked' by interviews

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting says he was "quite shocked" by the airing of interviews with Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft on Tuesday, but added he doesn’t believe the current side will be distracted by ball-tampering saga dominating the headlines again.

Ponting has also backed Smith to return to the Australian Test captaincy once his leadership ban is over, saying "he’ll come back a much better leader because of what’s happened".

Smith and Bancroft were interviewed separately by Ponting’s former vice-captain Adam Gilchrist in interviews broadcast on Fox Cricket on Boxing Day, the pair opening up about the events during and after the controversial Cape Town Test earlier this year.

The pre-recorded interviews were the major talking point on day one of the third Domain Test between Australia and India, a day short of on-field highlights.

Ponting said he can understand the timing of the interviews and expects them to dominate the media cycle just as the series itself, locked at 1-all heading into the Boxing Day Test, is at "fever pitch".

"From a wholly journalistic approach, you can understand the reasons why it was aired today," he told cricket.com.au.

"You’ve probably got a big percentage of the population watching the cricket today and they’ll be reading about it tomorrow. I can understand how that could happen.

"I’m not sure how happy the players would be about it or Cricket Australia, because it’s a pretty special moment in Australian cricket on a day like today. So, we’ll see what the reaction is.

"I’ve seen a couple of headlines (since the interviews), which I’ve been shocked at, I must admit. Some of the things that have been said have been quite shocking to me.

"We’re nine months on from this stuff and there’s still a lot being spoken about what happened in Cape Town.

"Now that those stories are out there, it’s going to be interesting to see what the reaction is tomorrow in newspapers and news channels. There’s enough in those stories to raise a few eyebrows."

Apart from the banned trio, the eight others who played that Cape Town Test took to the field at the MCG on Tuesday, but Ponting doubted the current players would be distracted by the coverage.

And he added they can’t afford to be with the series against India on the line.

"I think the guys that are not banned have had long enough to move on from that sort of stuff," he said.

"The guys that were banned have had to live it on a daily basis, but the other guys not quite as much.

"I’m pretty sure that Painey and some of the other guys, they have to leave that behind and move on and worry about what’s happening in the middle of the MCG. Because right now, the series is at absolute fever pitch … so the less distractions the better."

Bancroft’s nine-month ban ends later this week while Smith and David Warner can return to playing in March next year. In addition to their playing bans, Warner has been banned from a leadership role in Australian cricket for life while Smith isn’t permitted to hold a leadership position until March 2020, by which time he’ll still be just 30 years old.

Ponting says Smith’s failing at Newlands will only improve his leadership qualities and has backed him to assume the captaincy again at some stage.

"I think he will come back into the captaincy," he said. "He’s owned up about what his leadership failures were, and he’s been pretty open with that over the last week.

"I’m able to forgive after he serves his penalty. It’s a pretty hefty penalty to have 12 months on the sidelines, let alone the financial side of it.

"What he’s had to say, I think he’ll come back a much better person and a much better leader because of what’s happened."

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: India won by 31 runs

Dec 14-18: Australia won by 146 runs

Dec 26-30: Third Test, MCG

Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Archie Schiller

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar