Stephen O’Keefe has had a shocker, a real shocker. It is now up to him to get his life together before a successful cricket career comes to an abrupt halt.
News emerged last week that O’Keefe had been fined $20,000 and suspended from the NSW team for all next season’s Matador Cup. He also has cast a dark shadow over his recent successes for the Aussie team.
Reports have come to the surface of his ‘alleged’ drunken behaviour at the end of the NSW cricket awards night which included a series of highly inappropriate insults directed at a female cricketer and other NSW luminaries. It should be noted that what he actually said has not been made public but what details are on the grapevine paint a pretty grim picture.
It is a familiar tale when a party-goer has a few too many beverages, makes a fool of themselves and wakes up full of regret. But for a current Australian cricketer to do this?
An Australian cricketer coming off a successful return to the Aussie side after injury and after copping a $10,000 fine last year for abusing a bouncer? It is sad and unbelievable.
Some may say: Where were his mates? Why wasn’t he put in a cab and sent home before he endangered his career? But O’Keefe is a 32-year-old man, he is old enough to be responsible for his own actions and now must seek redemption again.
I am still shocked about the events that have apparently transpired. All summer there had been so much anticipation about his return to the side which came to fruition when he cleaned up India with 12/70 in the recent series.
In the small dealings I have had with O’Keefe he has always come across as a nice man who deals with children particularly well. This is why this behaviour is even more perplexing.
One can only wonder what his former flatmate and now Test skipper Steve Smith is thinking about SOK’s shocker and how this will affect his future selection.
What seems clear from a distance is that alcohol is at the core of his problems and he needs help. Speaking on the penalty, O’Keefe said “I accept the sanctions imposed by Cricket Australia and Cricket NSW and welcome the chance to receive specialist counselling.
“I have a big challenge ahead and I am determined to meet it with actions, not just words.”
I really hope it is not too late to save O’Keefe’s career and he gets the professional help he needs.
It would be easy for the cricket family to cut him adrift but instead he will need allies in his battle with his demons and his long road back to the Australian Test team.
qwetzen
Guest
Stuart Bywater (and I'm soooo envious of your surname) said: "how was SOK’s misbehaviour criminal?" Incident #1: He was issued criminal infringement notices for offensive behaviour, and 'excluded person remain in vicinity of licensed premises'. Incident #2: Not charged, but possibly could have been for; 'Failure to quit a licenced premises', 'Offensive Behaviour' and 'Being a Prat'.
Peter
Roar Rookie
Nah not Candice, it's the OLED TV.
Stuart Bywater
Guest
Perhaps I missed something...how was SOK's misbehaviour criminal? There is no evidence of police involvement let alone charging or conviction. Perhaps you need to consider the legal meaning of criminal before defaming others.
Stuart Bywater
Guest
Ponting was found "tired and emotional" in a gutter in Kings Cross before he was captain. Warne's misdemeanours are many and well known. Clarke's actions were not always in the interests of the team. Indeed Boof himself was no saint before his appointment as national coach. SOK has been fined a considerable amount for a fringe Test player. Along with the reprimand and caution that is the end of the matter. Should SOK similarly transgress then of course his record will be considered when deciding his punishment. But as for the calls to ban him: "Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone."
BrainsTrust
Guest
Ponting was drunk while he was with some women and then it got progressively worse and worse.This was all in front of the public. The reason he got punched was because he had his hands around her neck and looked like he was strangling her. This was front page news in so its interesting that so many other have had their reputations affected with a lot less.
qwetzen
Guest
"A. Johns never learnt but the culture of the Rugby League drongos are they keep loving him." Edit: "A. Johns never learnt, but the culture of the NSW Rugby League drongoes meant that they kept loving him."
qwetzen
Guest
"Symonds? His public battles with alcohol are well known." Indeedy, but I'd argue that Symonds' well publicised incidents were CA in-house matters and not within a Bulls roar of the actually criminal, and very public, offences of O'Keefe and Warner.
qwetzen
Guest
Afaik, Ponting got hit by someone at the B & B. Of course I could be wrong, but I don't recall any factual reports of him behaving badly and have given him the benefit of the doubt over the B&B black eye as there's a long and rich history of drunks wanting to prove how tough they are by punching a celebrity.
qwetzen
Guest
Brad Williams? Apart from having one of the worst headshots in the history of photography, what did he do? All CI says is; "Williams refused to play in the ING Cup after being dropped from the Pura Cup side and was withdrawn from all state duties." which is in a different solar system to Warner/O'Keefe behaviour.
The Bush
Roar Guru
It is and it isn't. When they're at these functions, they're still "working". If you can't fulfil the expectations of the team at this work event, then your drinking is a problem. If I was SOK, who has a history of this stuff, I'd just lay off the booze for work functions. I know plenty of people who stay away from the booze at the Christmas party at work for this exact reason.
The Bush
Roar Guru
Symonds? His public battles with alcohol are well known. Lehmann might not have got in trouble on the drink, but his behaviour was been equally (if not more) as disgusting at times.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I think that's one of the big things though, "when young". There are a number of guys who've had major alcohol related indescretions, but they've generally all been when young and they've learned from them and matured and got past that (that includes the Warner example). SOK being in his 30's and still having such issues, while only being a bit of a fringe international player, is a big difference in how it's likely to affect his career. Maybe SOK is hoping doing this will get Shane Warne on his side. Going by his post World Cup victory interviews, Warne suggested that he measures the ability to party well with how drunk you get.
Rob
Guest
Sounds like a lot of other people that have problems with alcohol. He should have people around him that are true friends and don't let him fall into the bad situation. Perhaps those feeding the drinks should be more responsible. At his age he should be showing better judgement also. A. Johns never learnt but the culture of the Rugby League drongos are they keep loving him.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Yep. I said as much in another comment further down. The more important a player you are to the team, the more leeway you are going to get. Of course, at the time Warner had his indescretions he was still only new to the team and hadn't necessarily fully established himself. But he was a young player doing stupid things who then did show that he learned from them and has since matured. Similar to Ponting with his issues early in his career before meeting his wife!
Paul D
Roar Guru
It's a good point. I knew a mate who gave up drinking in his early 20's because he rapidly realized he couldn't control himself when he'd had a few. Turned into a very nasty individual, almost Jekyll & Hyde, it was that abrupt. Sensible decision and he's never regretted it.
JamesH
Roar Guru
I don't think that having a drinking problem and being a toss pot are mutually exclusive. In SOK's case there is probably a bit of an overlap.
davSA
Guest
I think Herschelle Gibbs can count his lucky stars he didn't play for Australia . I mean Smoking pot on tour , drunken driving , Race insults to the Pakistanis and their supporters on field , match fixing ......He would never have had any money left.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Because Davey was 26 and SOK is 32. One had time, one doesn't.
Ben
Guest
Let's be real here, Pattinson when fit has to be one of the first picked in the Australian team, and it looks like his batting has come a long way as well. Pattinson is a far more talented and important player than O'Keefe, so I dare say they will be lenient with him.
JohnB
Guest
In a different way, and may not be regarded as from the Lehmann era, but one candidate would be Ricky Ponting when young.