Pat Cummins should still be in line to succeed Tim Paine as Australian captain, even if the fast bowler had prior knowledge of the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
That's the view of former skipper Ian Chappell, in the wake of Cameron Bancroft's explosive comments over the weekend suggesting that the bowlers were aware of what was going on in 2018.
"Obviously what I did benefits bowlers and the awareness around that, probably, is self-explanatory," Bancroft told the Guardian.
Pressed as to whether or not the bowlers, which included Cummins, knew exactly what was happening, Bancroft hesitated, before saying: "Uh … yeah, look, I think, yeah, I think it's pretty, probably, self-explanatory."
But Chappell, who captained Australia in 30 of his 75 Tests, says the ultimate responsibility for what happened rests with then-captain Steve Smith.
"If people start jumping up and down about Pat Cummins captaining Australia if he knew, well the answer is pretty clear, because it falls back on Smith," Chappell told Wide World of Sports.
"He's the bloke who should have stopped it. The captain's got the overall say and power to stop it, and he didn't.
"I don't think it should count against Pat Cummins, even if they decide the bowlers did know.
"Smith is the bloke who should have made sure the whole thing never started."
The race to succeed Paine appears to have narrowed to just two candidates, Smith and Cummins.
Paine's exit could come as early as January, following the Ashes series against England, and Chappell believes Cummins should get the nod ahead of the former captain.
"I think it's time to move on. To me if you go back to Smith, you're going backwards," he said.
"It's time to look ahead, not in the rear-vision mirror."
Bancroft was banned for nine months, and Smith and Warner a year each, for their roles in the Cape Town affair. Additionally, Smith was banned from the captaincy for a further year, while Warner has a lifetime ban on any leadership position.
In an interview in 2018, Josh Hazlewood denied the bowlers had any knowledge of what was happening, but Chappell believes it was inevitable further details would eventually come out.
"It's probably something that's been on Bancroft's chest for a while, and he's tried to get it off his chest as diplomatically as he possibly could," Chappell said.
"I'm not surprised, because Bancroft's one of only three that got pinged for what happened, and most people would realise that there was more than three people involved.
"And any attempt to tell you it was the first time it happened is wrong, that's glaringly obvious as well."
In a statement on Saturday night, Cricket Australia said it remained open to investigating any new information that might come to light about the events of 2018, hardly a ringing endorsement of the probe headed by former head of integrity Iain Roy immediately after the Cape Town Test.
"It's the usual backside-protecting statement. That's all that ever goes on, as soon as there's a controversy, it's a rush to protect your own backside," Chappell said.
"The fact that nobody higher up was ever punished, well, that always made it just an attempt to brush it under the carpet."
While many of the key figures from 2018 have now moved on, including coach Darren Lehmann, high performance boss Pat Howard, chief executive James Sutherland and chairman David Peever, Chappell said there's still value in reopening the investigation.
"If I was Smith, Warner or Bancroft, I'd want the others publicly recognised for their part in what happened," he said.
"It's not just the fact the ball was tampered with at Newlands, it's all the lead-up about how it got to that point, and what caused it to reach that level of stupidity.
"For it to have got that far it had to have involved a lot of people, and not just those around the team.
"It involves people way up the ladder, and the fact that none of them were enveloped, if I was one of the three that did get pinged, I'd be pretty pissed off about it."
Despite Bancroft notching three centuries in the recently completed Sheffield Shield season, he remains well down the pecking order for a Test recall.
His 678 runs for Western Australia came at an average of 48.43, but players like Will Pucovski (if fit) and Marcus Harris would appear to be the top choices to partner Warner at the top of the order.
By reopening debate about who knew what, and when did they know it, Bancroft is unlikely to have endeared himself to those in charge at Cricket Australia.
Asked if Bancroft's comments could count against him in terms of selection in future, Chappell conceded it wouldn't do the opener any favours.
"The answer should be 'No,'" he said.
"But does like and dislike come into selection? It shouldn't, but it does.
"Do selectors sometimes pick players, or not pick them, for reasons other than cricket ability? I think it happens occasionally.
"It's definitely happened as far as Warner and leadership is concerned."
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