Former Australian vice-captain Shane Watson has said that he believed that his suspension from the Mohali Test in March, along with three other players, has created a 'dangerous precedent' for dealing with discipline breaches.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Watson's lingering resentment about his treatment in India, where he was stood down for a Test along with Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Johnson and James Pattinson for failing to complete an assignment, had destablilised the team.
The report further said that the handling of that incident might have helped seal former coach Mickey Arthur's fate even though captain Michael Clarke and manager Gavin Dovey were also involved in handing down the punishment.
Although Watson admitted a concern about an inconsistent approach to disciplinary issues and said that the precedent that was set in Mohali was dangerous, he however, added that things will look brighter now with the coming in of new coach Darren Lehmann, who will usher in a new leadership group and team dynamics.
Stating that he has moved forward from the issues of the last few months, Watson further said that the change is a good thing for the team, adding that he is excited about what they are doing now as a group and what Lehmann is going to bring to their team.
According to the report, although the relationship between Arthur and Watson did not recover from the homework fiasco, Lehmann moved quickly to embrace the all-rounder by returning him to his favourite position as an opener for the Ashes, adding that Watson endorsed that decision by striking a powerful 90 against Somerset on Thursday.
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In a pointed reference to the tension that had built up towards the end of Arthur's rein, the 32-year-old suggested a cool breeze had blown through the squad after Lehmann's appointment, saying that one of the big things he instills in the group is to make sure that the team is having fun and is less tense, adding that he did not much fun after Mohali.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that Watson had accidentally alerted Arthur to suspended opener David Warner's swing at England batsman Joe Root, without realising that Arthur had not been told about the incident.
However, Watson denied the reports, saying that the incident had nothing to do with him, adding that the coaching staff, Arthur and the leadership group found out about Warner's incident on their own.