The Woke Elite Take Over Cricket

[Black Orchid]

>snip<

The current Australian cricket scandal differs in subject matter and intensity from its English counterpart, but not in substance.

It centres on Tim Paine, who was appointed Australian cricket captain after the disgraceful Cape Town cheating incident in March 2018, which led to the sacking of then-captain Steve Smith and senior player David Warner. Smith and Warner are now back in the Australian team, after serving 12-month suspensions.

Paine has performed well as captain during what has been a very difficult period for Australian cricket. How has he been rewarded for his efforts?

Two weeks ago, media outlets published a 2017 text exchange between Paine and a female employee of Cricket Australia, the sport’s governing body in this country. The texts were of an explicit sexual nature and included what is colloquially known as a ‘dick pic’ (apparently, this is an integral component of contemporary courtship rituals).

Paine apologised for his behaviour, and immediately resigned as Australian captain. The woke media predictably had a field day in condemning Paine, and the current board of Cricket Australia enthusiastically joined in that condemnation.

In the week following Paine’s resignation, the facts surrounding the texting incident emerged. It became clear that the text exchange – which was very brief –was consensual. The exchange occurred in 2017 – before Paine had been appointed captain – but the woman did not complain to Cricket Australia about it until 2018.

Cricket Australia immediately established an internal inquiry when it received the complaint. Paine admitted to sending his texts and apologised. The female complainant, however, refused to participate in the enquiry unless she received an apology and $40,000 for ‘legal costs’. These demands were refused.

In the circumstances, and because the texts were consensual and private, Cricket Australia, quite correctly, found that Paine had not breached the sport’s code of conduct.

More importantly, it was revealed that the female complainant was sacked by Cricket Australia for stealing, and this week she appeared in court facing criminal charges. It was also disclosed that she had tried to sell her story to a current affairs television program – without success.

Notwithstanding the above facts – which are not in dispute – the current Cricket Australia board has continued to condemn Paine. He has now announced that he is taking a break from cricket, and that he is not available to play in the Ashes tests. To add insult to injury, Cricket Australia has announced that the cheat, Steve Smith, has been appointed vice-captain of the Australian team.

Once again, the blatant hypocrisy exhibited by Cricket Australia simply beggars belief. Cricket Australia sees no issue in two self-confessed cheats playing in the Australian team, but takes the view that a player who was cleared of any wrongdoing by its own internal inquiry process is not fit to be captain – in circumstances where the accusations made against him were made by an alleged thief.

Nor does Cricket Australia seem to care one jot that the current scandal – which it is responsible for – will undoubtedly adversely affect the Australian team’s performance in the forthcoming Ashes tests.

Fortunately, Paine has received a great deal of support over the past week. The chairman of the former board of Cricket Australia has rightly condemned the current board’s actions, and Cricket Tasmania – Paine is a Tasmanian – has echoed those criticisms.

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/541349-woke-el ... r-cricket/

Cricket Australia looks ridiculous to the world and rightly so.