Pathetic.
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| Thanks for the memories |
Weak leaders cheat. What’s worse is the encouragement of a junior player to perform the act in order to avoid penalties falling on senior players. If Cricket Australia is fair dinkum, Smith should lose the captaincy. In applying an honesty forced upon him by indisputable facts, he couldn’t even man up to consequences, instead, making the blame corporate. Leaders face the truth square jawed, they don’t blame shift. Smith’s moral corruption is complete and this should put an end to rumours of his divinity. There is so much more at stake here than a series.
Pathetic.
Steve Smith and David Warner have stepped down in South Africa but will complete the current Test as players. Tim Paine - not a member of the leadership group - will lead the side for the remainder of the 3rd Test. Which begs the question whether replacements will be rushed to South Africa if action is taken against players involved by either the ICC or Cricket Australia.
25th March - 11:34pm
I received an message tonight from a former team mate, expressing his upset with Steve Smith et all but suggesting that ball tampering was no worse than several things which already happen in the game. Players appealing for caught behind that they clearly knew to be not out, was one of about ten examples. He also complained that the Australian players hadn’t killed anyone, although an argument could be made for the potential death of careers and even the public’s confidence in the team. His other major claim was that these players are just sportsmen, not role models. This was my response."All of those things are cheating. All are wrong, probably with the exception of the appeal for a catch behind. Most appeals, apart from bowled or clearly held catches, are speculative and ask for judgment.
Sorry, I can’t agree, they are not just sportsmen and yes they are role models. Even at our old club, older players were role models to the young and as such, were subject to punishment when they acted in a manner contrary to the spirit of the game. I was a captain, a past president and long serving official of the Cricket association when I was suspended for such offences. In the 1970’s, the club’s leading wicket taker was suspended for conduct unbecoming. These Australian guys are role models in clear view of the public, they agree to be promoted accordingly and accept the adulation of kids and are paid well for that role. They are happy to accept the role or you wouldn’t see Steve Smith acting as the team coach for the under tens in that nauseating Comm Bank add.
No, they haven’t killed anyone. They haven’t imported drugs. They haven’t beaten their wives or molested children and therefore, they will be punished according to their offence and appropriately to the rules they have broken.
Their greatest indiscretion, has been to disgrace the cap, the traditions of fair play Australians stake their national reputation on and impune the rest of us and that’s exactly why Joan and John Q Public are outraged.
“It’s just not cricket” is often lampooned as an English anachronism which is of another age and culture. It’s not. The fact it’s no longer understood with any clarity by those under 40 is a damning reflection of how individual selfishness has been fostered in the game. Baseball’s Yogi Berra described winning as “the only thing”, a maxim which has been transcribed to represent the modern game.
Cheating is not new. There has been forty years of corruption and cheating in the game. That, of course, is not a place on which to build a defence of Smith and Bancroft and the faceless others. What they did was not only against the rules but it was wrong and it’s understanding the latter which is crucial in this case. What Smith further did in handing the delivery of the offence to his youngest and most impressionable and expendable player and then seeking to obviate the blame by corporatising it, was simply spineless. They are not the acts of a leader ... certainly not the Captain of Australia.
I expect this to end his and likely Warner’s career leadership roles. I expect it to end Bancroft’s Test career. The former is reasonable. The latter harsh but it will be implemented by CA stealth. After a ban, his form will never again warrant selection.
In doing so an example will be set. Whether it is understood by kids to mean the rules should not be broken or you shouldn’t get caught breaking them, remains to be seen."
26th March - 8:46am
“Are we there yet?” came the inquiry from the back seat.
“Not yet,” came the reassurance from mum David in the front seat.
Dad Steve was driving like a demon and running roughshod over everything in his path. Some travel writers asked him about his driving style but he simply replied, “I know what I’m doing. There’s a line out there and I won’t be crossing it. We only want to drive in the State of Fair Play.”
“Are we there yet?” came the cry again.
“Not yet,” David repeated.
A while later, Steve pulled up short to be breathalyzed by the Chief Constable. “It’s okay James. David and I know where the line is. We have no intention of crossing into the State of Cheating."
“Are we there yet?” came the insistent cry again.
“Yes Cameron,” said David. “We have crossed the line.”
“Just now, in Capetown?”
“No,” said Steve, “back in Sydney.”
“Where are we headed?” said Cameron in his innocence, because he hadn’t toured before. Mother David looked at Father Steve, hands clutching the wheel, determined not to let anyone else drive.
“Oblivion.”
26th March - 9:46am
A new team chant for when Australia loses, to be led by those who have pre-selected themselves. Whilst its not usually the captain who leads the chant or a non-playing member, perhaps in Jo-burg the team might make an exception.
Under the Southern Cross I stand
Sugar and sandpaper in my hand
A product of my captain's plans
Australia, I forgot my fuckin' duty.
27th March - 8:37am
Now that he appears cleared of involvement and leaving aside the Bob Simpson choices for the job, is Nathan Lyon such a roughie for the Captaincy?
28th March - 5:11am
Meanwhile, in an odd twist, a cricket match was played in which a young exciting team beat another enthusiastic side, strangely enough, purely on cricketing skills. Congratulations Queensland.
28th March - 2:28pm
Funny game cricket.
If bans against the Capetown Three are to be effective, Cricket Australia needs to think in terms of matches not months. For instance, a six month ban means players would miss only the final Test of this debacle of a tour to South Africa. Just like football, their ban should be for a number of Tests, perhaps 10, and they not be eligible for any first class cricket, here or overseas either until Australia has played those Tests. It wouldn’t hurt to put their cricket superannuation at risk and if they want to play cricket, allow the access to grade cricket. Perhaps if their toes mingled in the grass roots they might have a warmer appreciation for the damage they have done.
If you are going to hurt them, hurt them hard.
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| Building a team culture |
Michael Clarke provided a brief hiatus but even his polished manners could have a sharp, break your arm edge.
Which leaves us here. Where once we stood upon the high moral ground casting aspersions at the mortals below, we have run with dogs long enough to be infested with fleas. It remains to be seen if James Sutherland and his delegated minions have the stomach for change. If not, their hip pocket nerves may jingle jangle as corporates such as the CBA go elsewhere. Let’s face, they are one corporate entity that needs no further association with cheating.
Perversely, the thirst for money which many would blame for the culture of avarice which is top down in the game, may in the end be the driving force in change.
Funny game cricket.
28th March - 3:18pm
Twelve months for Smith and Warner; nine for Bancroft. What does that really mean?
Well if the ICC future fixtures program is correct - and it rarely is - the architects will miss twelve Tests and the inept onfield perpetrator, seven.
Of course one of those is away to Zimbabwe, perennially impossible to stage for security reasons.
Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka all at home probably means 700 or 800 runs that Smith and Warner won’t score although they won’t be sorry to miss Pakistan in fortress UAE.
Then the reality check that they will have no first class matches before the World Cup in England or the Ashes tour which follows. How do you pick blokes to retain the Holy Urn who haven’t played first class cricket for fifteen months?
It could be a long road back for them but Bancroft is finished as a Test cricketer. He has no history, no cred, no seniority and he’s not from NSW.
Harsh? Yes.
Deserved? You bet.
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| James Sutherland |
Twelve months not enough? Magellan have just cancelled their $20 million naming rights sponsorship deal with Cricket Australia. Their managing director has said the ball tampering by Australia’s leaders was so far from being consistent with their values and that they wouldn’t continue with the deal. Has to be bad when your values are below the standards of a financial management company. Worst fears are coming true for James Sutherland.
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