- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
How unbelievable is South African cricket? When South Africa turn games that are petering toward a draw or tight loss into an incredible win with a withering burst of amazing and unprecedented reverse swing, we Roarers and laud the incredible skill of their bowlers.
And yet there have been two confirmed instances of South African players’ ball tampering in nine months and one further allegation which could not (or would not) be pursued against South African cricket. I actually thought David Warner was full of it when he made those infamous calls months ago, but he’s smelling a bit more of roses right now.
I’m not saying that the South African attack isn’t very, very good, but even a world-class attack can find the going hard on a flat track in dry conditions. We all thought it was the ability of Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn to find something in the track that no-one else could was what made them so good.
You might think I have an axe to grind, and you’d be right. I hate it when teams or individuals do the wrong thing to win and then carry on like it’s business as usual when caught. At least have the guts to face the music and change. Twice (or thrice) in nine months, with no apparent change of policy, is unbelievable!
So where to from here. Nothing hits home like the inability to earn money in your chosen profession, but the ICC won’t ban players so that’s out. In fact the ICC will basically do nothing, almost like it didn’t happen (probably the subject of another article).
But maybe Ian Chappell has the right idea, allow the fielding team to do whatever they like to the ball with the exception of using artificial agents (i.e. no knives, bottle tops, nail files etc) and bring the balance of power back to the bowlers a little.
I’d like to see how the South Africa batsmen cope with that kind of pressure.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.