Surrey coach interested to sign in Steve Smith and David Warner

What's the story?

Surrey's coach Michael Di Venuto is keen to sign the banned players, Steve Smith and David Warner to the County Club. He believes that if the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) permit them, it'll be beneficial for both the players and Australia.

"So, if they are in the right mental state to play cricket and the ECB will have to allow it to start with, then we'd be mad not to look at some of the world's best players potentially playing," said Di Venuto.

In case you didn't know...

In the aftermath of the sandpaper gate, Steve Smith and David Warner are serving a 12-month ban from International and Australian Cricket.

Michael Di Venuto is a former Australian batting coach who still remains a well-wisher for the Aussie duo.

The heart of the matter

Although banned from the action, the Aussie openers are allowed to participate in Premier cricket in Australia. It is, however, mandatory to complete 100 hours of community service for club cricket.

The ban doesn't restrict them from playing in England and thus, Di Venuto is trying, with all his might, to get them in. Since the players wouldn't get any practice before they enter the stage of 2019 World Cup, Surrey's coach believes that with ECB's permission, they can grab this opportunity and start setting things right.

This is also beneficial to the Surrey team as their overseas signing, Mitchell Marsh has been ruled out due to his ankle surgery. He hopes to join them in the latter half of the season. Dean Elgar, their overseas player for April and May will soon depart, leaving 2 spots empty.

An interesting fact is that Virat Kohli was also eyeing to take part in the County Championship by signing with the same team. The jarring numbers he holds from the England conditions isn't helpful with the World Cup ahead and this stint would be profitable.

What's next?

The Australian cricket team is set to take on England for a white-ball series in June before they meet them again for an away Ashes tournament. While the banned duo awaits the permission from the ECB, they are sure to miss all this action.

Author's take

The punishments were rather overdone to compensate all the issues circling the Australian Cricket. However, with the World Cup approaching soon, the defending champions wouldn't want to lose out on any performances that could make a difference for them in the bigger stage. A match or two for the unfortunate duo could be a start to get themselves out to the field again and build on their mental strength, slowly and steadily.