Cricket

[The Mechanic]

must be a slow news week...

they are still banging on about it on the morning shows as if they killed someone... ffs..

[Black Orchid]

On the way home from work yesterday my son saw over a dozen marked, unmarked and tactical response vehicles screaming to some destination and asked me if I had heard on the news what was going on.

I was 25 minutes into the news but not a word. It was cricket, cricket and more cricket

Looked at Google news this morning and still nothing. Cricket has the headlines still.

[The Mechanic]

On the way home from work yesterday my son saw over a dozen marked, unmarked and tactical response vehicles screaming to some destination and asked me if I had heard on the news what was going on.

I was 25 minutes into the news but not a word. It was cricket, cricket and more cricket

Looked at Google news this morning and still nothing. Cricket has the headlines still.

the Andrews Labor government is thieving Millions of Tax payers many and what at the Leftist Media outraged about???

a bloody cricket ball...

wtf??

[The Mechanic]

heres's a beauty I found on the Today FB page about that arsewipe Sefenovic

Carl is good at saying they cheated and want's to go on & on well didn't you cheat on your wife & is that why you were missing on air when they played the segment on marriages breaking down now that is something you were an expert on so why not put your opinion on that, you only like talking about things you know nothing about, maybe it is time you moved on your time is up on tv you have lost face when you took on a mistress as did Barnaby Joyce but at least he stood down

BOOM!!!

[cods]

btw just an aside we have sent a couple of RUSSIANS to pack their bags...as well..

no they dont play cricket... but almost as bad they are going home to tell Putin what a bad lot of cheats aussies. are..

he will probably ban us from the soccer world cup.. oh bugger!

[The Mechanic]

STEVE Smith and David Warner have been banned by Cricket Australia for a year, with Cameron Bancroft for nine months for masterminding the ball-tampering scandal.

Smith and Warner have also been banned from captaining Australia for two years.

[sprintcyclist]

cricket australia are jerks

[Black Orchid]

Like most Australians, I’m deeply saddened and embarrassed by the ball tampering perpetrated by Steve Smith, Cameron Bancroft and Co.

However, the reaction by pundits, former players and the public is outrageous in comparison to similar indiscretions of the not so distant past.

Don’t mistake me, I’m not trying to normalise or defend what the Aussies have done in any way. They went against the rules and have been punished accordingly.

What I am trying to do is put this indiscretion in perspective. If this exact same incident had occurred during a Sri Lanka versus West Indies Test series, would the worldwide reaction be the same?

I suggest not.

Possibly, the public outrage has more to do with the fact the offence was committed by Australians rather than the event itself. If you consume any form of news media, you would think that this scandal is the biggest to hit world cricket since Hansie Cronje’s match-fixing. It’s not.

One of the questions most people are asking is: “What were they thinking?”. I asked this question too, but like most others, I suspect, in a rhetorical way, to emphasise their stupidity. I dwelled on this thought and then tried to search for an answer. I can only speculate, but my guess is that there was a calculation about risk versus reward.

Smith and his team aren’t the first to tamper with the ball in a Test Match. In fact, their opposition in this match contains no less than two players who have been found guilty of ball tampering. Furthermore, their captain has been found guilty twice.

Despite being a multiple-time offender, Faf du Plessis remains captain of South Africa while there are calls from around Australia and the world for Smith to be banned for life.

Unsurprisingly, some of the loudest criticism of the Australians has come from former English players. The same players who were involved in a calculated plot to tamper with the ball using sugared saliva from breath mints during the 2005 Ashes series.

This wasn’t picked up on at the time so no penalties were awarded. However, Marcus Trescothick admitted to the tactic in his autobiography. Looking back, it’s no surprise dirty tactics were involved when you see how much the ball was reversing during that series.

Despite many occurrences, no player has ever been suspended for a Test Match by the ICC for the offence of ball tampering. Maybe this knowledge motivated the Australians to turn to the dark art.

Those charged with dreaming up the plan would have thought they could turn the match by tampering with the ball and the biggest penalty he would face would be a significant proportion of his match fee. South African captain, Faf du Plessis wasn’t even suspended for his second ball tampering offence.

During a match of cricket, if the umpires find that the condition of the ball has been changed, five penalty runs are awarded to the batting team.

In the Cape Town match, after the ball tampering was discovered, the ball was inspected by the umpires. It was decided that the condition of the ball hadn’t been changed and no penalty was awarded. Essentially, the Australians failed in their attempt to alter the condition of the ball.

[Black Orchid]

The biggest problem for Smith and his team is the way they behave on-field has made them deeply unpopular with current and former opponents, pundits, journalists and many Australian cricket fans. It would be fair to assume they had a target on their backs and the world was waiting for an opportunity to stick the knife in.

Those involved deserve to be punished. But those punishments should be in line with prior offences, not amplified due to public reaction.

Another issue which has plagued this series is the personal abuse dished out between players. The general reaction to Australian players receiving it is “they deserve it”, because of their on-field behaviour and hostility of fans in Australia towards visiting players.

Cricket South Africa really missed an opportunity to take the high road on this matter. Rather than condemn their own fans for the sexist abuse that was given out, they joked about it and arguably encouraged it. Hostilities between home and visiting countries will continue to intensify until one country has the backbone to stand up to their own fans and players’ behaviours.

It is clear South Africa won’t be taking the first step.

In the despair of this situation, there is now an opportunity for Cricket Australia to rebuild the personality of this team.

They will have seen the outrage in Australia and noted the general public want a team who play the game in the right way, rather than a team doing anything to win.

They can and probably will use behaviour and personality as a criteria for selection moving forward. In the short term, results may suffer. But the long-term goal is a team that is loved at home and respected around the world. Hopefully, success will come too.

As for the future of the players involved, I don’t think their punishments should be as harsh as what some others would like. Some big-name players have been charged with ball tampering in the past and for them, its been forgotten with time rather than remain a blight on their careers.

Without doubt, Smith being stripped of the captaincy is the correct move, but after serving a brief suspension (i.e. not 12 months), he should be restored to the team as a batsmen only.

Unfortunately for David Warner, this could spell the end his Australian career. It’s not just this controversy alone which sees him in hot water, but the accumulation of incidents over the years. If Cricket Australia want to rebuild a new personality for their team, they can’t do that if Warner’s involved.

Bancroft’s spot in the team was at risk even before he took that piece of sandpaper onto the field with him. His performances with the bat have simply not been good enough.

This incident has been bad for everyone involved. However, it’s been blown far out of proportion when compared with similar incidents of the past. Before dishing out harsh criticism and vitriol, like most Australians love to do, have some perspective first.

https://www.theroar.com.au/2018/03/29/t ... th-africa/

Long but worth the read.

[sprintcyclist]

..........it’s been blown far out of proportion ................. Before dishing out harsh criticism and vitriol have some perspective first..............