To all those who have cast aspersions on Steven Smith’s integrity, please attempt to gain a little perspective.
Ball tampering is performed very regularly at all levels of the game to seek an advantage over the batting side.
Tail-enders in fourth grade local teams have to contend with it.
Steve himself probably faces a ball that has been tampered with every third innings he has in the international arena.
The act is against the laws of the game, but it has been relatively hard to detect. The benefits of attempting it outweigh the costs of getting caught.
Calling Smith or any other tamperer a ‘cheat’ isn’t an effective deterrent against further misdemeanours of this nature.
This is likely due to the variable effect that naming and shaming has in the context of individual sportsmen. Just observe how former players caught up in ball tampering scandals such as Sachin Tendulkar, Shahid Afridi and Mike Atherton are viewed in their respective countries and the cricketing world.
So then one might be inclined to ask ‘why the sanctions aren’t increased?’ There are two reasons for this.
First and foremost, the wrongdoing itself isn’t guaranteed to change the outcome of the game. Getting the ball to reverse swing also depends on the weather conditions, the bowler’s speed, skill level, and shape of the ball.
And secondly, technological improvements have increased the probability of detection – meaning that players who go about the act in a subtler manner than Smith, like Faf Du Plessis, are now more likely to be caught.
In other sports, devious tactics are employed just as regularly but have a far greater influence on the outcome of the game. Consider time wasting in the dying stages of NRL games.
(AP Photo/Jon Super)
If a team is leading by a small margin, players will invariably feign injuries and roughly take five times as long to get to their feet.
In another example, soccer players take dives in order to win penalty kicks for their team, often resulting in goals.
These underhand tactics are even less likely to be detected than those who engage in ball tampering because, for some strange reason, FIFA doesn’t like to utilise video technology.
In the NRL, time-wasting can lead to receiving one less attacking set from which they could potentially overturn a deficit up to six points and change a loss into a win.
In soccer matches, one dive can determine the outcome of an entire game through a resulting red card or goal. When was the last time you saw a player guilty of these dishonest behaviours from either sport lambasted in the media to the extent that Smith was yesterday?
Smith committed a crime and received a sanction from the ICC in proportion to his offence. It sees his misdeed to be worthy of a one-match suspension, all factors considered.
In stating that, proportionality needs to be understood when projecting one’s views of the person in question.
Before labelling Smith and the Australian cricket team a ‘national disgrace’, please be aware of the comparison between their misconduct and the dishonest behaviour displayed by other sportsmen seeking advantages through slightly devious matters.
Before jumping on the naysayer’s bandwagon and supporting his ousting, please understand the hypocrisy of some of the comments made by public figures.
Has Michael Vaughan forgotten that Trescothick was applying that magic lozenge to the ball in 2005? Was Malcolm Turnbull really unaware of Barnaby Joyce’s malpractice?
And before attacking Smith’s integrity, please compare his response to the accusations of dishonesty to those given by other national captains in similar circumstances.
Michael Atherton offered a pathetic excuse for his ball-tampering episode in 1994. Shane Warne blamed his mother when he was accused and convicted of taking a banned diuretic in 2003.
[latest_videos_strip category=”cricket” name=”Cricket”]
In contrast, Smith immediately confessed his crime – though he probably could have successfully denied his involvement without exacerbating Bancroft’s punishment.
Do we consider Warne and Ponting ‘cheats’ or ‘national disgraces’? What about Ian Healy? Ever see that footage of his stumping of Brian Lara in the first Test of the 1992/1993 series with the ball clearly out of his gloves?
Smith made an error of relatively minor proportions and he is being punished accordingly. Up until this point, he has conducted himself with the utmost decorum.
The vast majority of people won’t get close to experiencing the level of pressure that he is under.
Don’t let a couple of keyboard warriors or rancorous ex-cricketers change your view of a man who is of complete integrity.
Get some perspective, people.
Walt
Guest
One of the major issues this highlights is the notion that both home country and international body can impose sanctions. Individual countries have wildly different punishments for similar offences. Obviously this is a reflection of the relative weakness of the ICC compared to some national bodies, but it's a sorry state of affairs.
Drago
Guest
Don't think he said that. What he has said is that all the other people charged with ball tampering have received there punishment dished out by the ICC and it's been left at that. Perhaps Smith deserves the same treatment??
Drago
Guest
You really believe this graph??
For those in the mood for a laugh. https://www.sport24.co.za/Cricket/Proteas/27-of-the-best-oz-ball-tampering-memes-and-jokes-20180326
Every sporting code has to contend with players pushing the boundary between what the laws of the game allows, and where the line is. In rugby Richie McCaw was forever accused of cheating, yet he is revered as one of the greatest players to have played the game. In football players dive around as if there is a wet slippy slide on every pitch. In cricket the fielding team only has the ball to "work on" and as have come to light over the past week, everyone and his dog, OK, maybe not the dog, has tinkered with the ball. Professional sportsmen push the boundaries, it isn't ever going to stop. What they shouldn't do is cry innocence from their glass towers, as karma is an ugly lady in a bad mood.
Walt
Guest
Although I'm South African I'm certainly not a "my country right or wrong" type. Nonetheless I'm a bit bemused by your comment Dianne. So the Proteas "stirred the pot" hoping that it would lead to the Aussies committing a severe infraction? If anything there seemed to be more evidence that the Aussies were aware of Rabada's demerit points balance and how little it would take to get him suspended. Yes, The South Africans (Rabada mostly) were to aggressive and in your face with a couple of dismissals. And the public gave Warner some distasteful stick after the stairwell incident. You seem to be implying that there was some malevolent intelligence working at getting the Aussies to a point were they committed a severe breach.Where's your evidence for that? Also, teams are often on tours against hostile crowds and competitive teams, Why would the Aussies be more vulnerable than others? My feeling is that all these things, plus the desire to win, were important. However (and it has been said by a couple of Australian journalists out here) that the Australian team was "baked" - what they'd already been through over the past period, plus the level of competition they were facing, led to them beginning to think that just doing the usual stuff with patience, wouldn't be sufficient, and they needed to resort to something else.
Walt
Guest
As a Saffer, I must say I agree with you completely. I've been a bit bemused by the wailing going on about this in Australia. None of the cricketers are angels. Yes, its partly due to the regulations being a bit silly, but all cricket teams have been doing this at various times. The issue is more that one or other team seems to be doing it better (and getting away with it) at any particular series. If the regulations allowed some tampering it might suit everyone better, and remove this hypocrisy. I know the response will be that Australians hold their cricketers and especially their cricket captains to a higher standard. That may be admirable, but perhaps misplaced. Half of my family no longer follow cricket since the Hansie Cronje saga, but with hindsight I wonder if he shouldn't had more support. Its incredibly difficult to always be the adult in the room.
Bib
Guest
yeah such a high crime that usually gets a match ban if that. Smith tried to do the right thing after the fact, which is admit wrong and apologies. what he should've done is what the overs have done over the years. He could've been like the Indians and pulled some sort of race card. Or He could've been like the South Africans and claimed some sort of conspiracy. Or he could've been like the English and just denied it.
Nick
Roar Guru
We should give Ben Johnson his gold medal back - after all everyone else cheats and he just made a mistake too. Marion Jones, Lance Armstrong, Floyd Landis, Russian athletes etc etc. Give all their medals back to them - unlucky people who made a mistake in a system where everyone else does it anyway. Spare me.
Clyde
Guest
Players tamper with the ball all the time, with their fingers, their nails and their minty saliva. What does not happen premeditated cheating where a group of leaders instructs a newby to take a piece of sandpaper onto the field for ball scratching.
JohnB
Guest
And Moises Henriques has apparently tweeted that he doesn't believe it was really Smith at all and that it was actually Smith protecting a young player. Unbelievable.
Kurt
Guest
Yeah, I think this sums it up pretty well. This isn't just being hit by the karma bus, it's being run over then watching the karma bus reverse back and forth over Lehmann, Warner and Smith's bodies about 28 times.
Kurt
Guest
And yet here you are, being a keyboard warrior, condemning those who happen to have a different sense of ethics to you. Ironic.
Keeper
Guest
I agree luke. Crime was committed and penalty applied. End of story. Same as occurred for Du plessis who did it twice, Atherton, and others named above. In a. Grade cricket we picked the seam, put sunscreen on our trousers to polish the ball and adjusted the watering of the pitch depending who was batting next week. Nobody died.
FunBus
Roar Rookie
There’s a reason why the world is piling in on this with such glee. For those who have encountered them (other cricket-playing countries) the Aussie cricket team of the last few years are comfortably the most arrogant, hypocritical, and unpleasant sports team on the planet. It’s not even related to their ‘success’. The team that lost 3-0 on the Ashes tour to England was generally agreed to be the poster-children for boorish, stomach-churning behavior. It’s the hypocrisy that really seals the ‘number 1’ spot though. When Broad nicked off and didn’t walk, the whole Aussie nation exploded with self-righteousness - this from a country in which, with the possible exception of Gilchrist, there was virtually no recorded case of a batsman walking. The most ‘outraged’ was Lehman, a man with a reputation when he played county cricket of not walking if he had been caught on the boundary. He then encouraged Aussie fans to hurl abuse at Broad on the next tour - yes, the same man clutching his pearls at a few unkind words hurled at Warner in SA. ‘Bogan Dave’s’ pompous’ self-righteous views on ball - tampering were laid out last year when discussing Faf. If you live outside Australia watching these characters crash and burn, you’d need a heart of stone not to laugh.
Mike Dugg
Guest
2 articles on this site defending their actions. Unbelievable. We should have high standards. We should expect more. The culture has to be changed
Mike Dugg
Guest
That kind of cheating is one of the highest crimes one can commit in the game. Enough is enough. Nows the time to change this culture. Just because others have done it doesn't mean we should.
Dianne Andrews
Guest
Agree Cuz. Let's face it - the Australian Cricket Team were played (sucked in) by a team that knew exactly how to stir the pot and our team, because they are so cocky and not too bright, fell hook, line and sinker. Have no sympathy. Play by the rules and you have nothing to worry about.
Cuz
Guest
Why is it that people always have to make comparisons and offer excuses according to what others have done? No perspective required, wrong is wrong. Integrity is required to be a true leader!
Ex force fan
Guest
Michael Haysman has published some interesting stats that calculate the average swing between overs 25-80 for recent Australian test matches. https://www.sport24.co.za/Cricket/Proteas/graph-shows-how-oz-have-got-the-ball-to-talk-in-sa-20180326 What is fascinating is how much additional reserve swing the Aussies were able to generate in the South African tests compared to the Ashes and Indian test matches and especially in the second test in windy Port Elizabeth. There has been allegation of ball tampering in all these tests and I think this graph seems to support that it was not an isolated incident in Cape Town. Smith failure for me is more a failure of leadership and character and this will stick as it did with Hansie Cronje. Maybe if he decide to become a crusaders for ethics in sport and fair play he can use this experience in a positive manner and right some of the wrongs.