The Steve Smith-Cameron Bancroft press conference didn’t just unmask Tapegate, it exposed the culture that leads to the kind of sad events we saw at Newlands.
“Can you turn these lights down a bit please?” asked Steve
Smith. With his baggy green pulled tightly down over his face, he knew he was in for a rough ride. Might as well do what he can about the brightness, even if he could do nothing about the media glare. ‘Control the controllables’ as the mantra goes.
Next to him, Cameron Bancroft’s thousand-yard stare told its own story.
More on ball-tampering sanctions
» Australia’s on-field leaders have been banished, but this is just the beginning
» Smith, Warner, and Bancroft to be sent home as Lehmann found innocent
» “Australian cricket is in deep s***”: Michael Clarke not satisfied with CA response
» Matt Renshaw must replace Cameron Bancroft permanently
Press conferences can often be tedious affairs, especially those after a routine day of cricket, thanks to the media coaching that the modern player undergoes (“right areas… the boys worked hard… we’ll come back tomorrow”). But when they follow the extraordinary, and especially when they involve players on the defensive, they can be thrilling.
Some of the best examples of spicy pressers are those that involve the non-apology. The handbook goes like this:
1. Try not to actually apologise
2. Call on your old ally rhetoric
3. Focus on the future
Smith-Bancroft Episode II, the dark sequel to November’s first outing, followed this script perfectly. While their efforts couln’t help them paddle their way out of shit creek, they did give us several valuable insights.
Too late to apologise
As far as this third Test match is concerned, the stand out statistics should be 141 and 9-110. Instead, the number we are left with is 490.
That’s how many words Smith and Bancroft used in answering the questions put to them by the hungry press pack before they uttered the one that really mattered: “sorry”.
Up to that point, we had heard all of the following twice: “regrettable”, “embarrassed”, “promise”, “poor” and “won’t happen again”. Contrast this with the first email in the series James Sutherland is having to send to the ‘Australian Cricket Family’.
“To our Australian Cricket Fans” it read, “we are sorry.”
All killer, no filler.
If Smith, Bancroft and co weren’t already crapping themselves, they surely did as soon as this popped into their inbox. They got round to it eventually, just 489 words later than they should have.
Say it like you mean it
Those attempting the non-apology escape act play a dangerous game. The less they try to say, the more they end up giving away. The more they concentrate on the overall message and tone of their answers, the more the language that brain unconsciously ferries to mouth betrays them.
The overall theme of the rhetoric is minimalising the heinous crime that they have committed using convoluted phrasing and ameliorating vocabulary. You see, it’s not really their fault.
Bancroft wasn’t really colluding with Smith and others, he was “in the vicinity of the area”. Furthermore, it wasn’t really his fault, he was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”. Smith can’t really be held responsible, because he was sorry for “trying to bring the game into disrepute”.
In general “it’s not on” as per Smith. Protagoras, Plato, Aristotle eat your heart out.
Livin’ in the future
The final device at the players’ disposal is to move the audience swiftly on. We shouldn’t worry, it’s all in hand. Smith assures us that “it won’t happen again”.
But more than that, this is actually an opportunity for them. While Bancroft wants to “do my best to move forward and play cricket”, Smith insists that “we’ll learn from it and move past it”.
Fret ye not, everyone is going to come out of this stronger. The future’s bright, the future’s green and gold. Phew.
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This wriggling and squirming is all very amusing and hefty bans and fines for all involved will surely follow. But there is another aspect of what was said that should give us more pause.
Seeping out of the cracks of the press conference transcript is an unsightly pus from the increasingly infected core of the cricketing body. The players’ mindset and language is subtly influenced by the climate of the game at the highest level, manifesting itself in a melange of pseudo-corporate guff.
‘Leadership group’ is a phrase that has now secured its place in the cricketing lexicon, but for all the wrong reasons. Whatever happened to talking about ‘senior staff’? The thought of Darren Lehmann and friends going through trust exercises and thought-showering strategic pathways is as tragic as it is humourous.
However, the most alarming terminology of all is when Smith and Bancroft talk of the “opportunity” and “risks” associated with their ill-conceived plan.
The reality is that, for better or worse, all sports now operate in a modern, commercial, connected world. But there is a difference between running an individual sport ‘like a business’ and ‘as a business’.
The former is admirable: taking the best lessons from the commercial world, adapting them and applying them as appropriate to a sport to ensure its survival. But you are still running a sport.
The latter is very different. That is not about finding a middle way, it is about operating a commercial business, making profits and keeping shareholders happy. It just so happens that the business in question is a sport loved by millions across the globe.
Boom and bust has a much shorter half-life in business than it does in sport. Losses today can be recouped tomorrow and then some. But in cricket, and sport more generally, there can be no hedged bets, no speculate-to-accumulate ethos.
Respect and integrity are not financial instruments, they are grown slowly rather than earned overnight. And once earned they can disappear in a flash. Just ask Smith.
That’s why the now morally bankrupt Australian captain and several of his associates are likely to find themselves disqualified from any cricketing directorship for the short term at least.
Let’s not watch this Black Saturday and pretend that it is an anomaly. The Lehmann Brothers may have crashed, but there are plenty more Jordan Belforts playing the numbers on 22-yard-long Wall Streets on every continent.
CarpingSouthAfrican
Guest
While you folks take a look in the mirror and figure out what identity you want to portray, please don't curtail your teams abrasive aggression to the point that it impacts their ability to play hard. To our never-ending frustration South African contests between Australia and England will never carry the gravitas of The Ashes but we know we often give both of you the most Ashes like of contests and for my part it's the hard as nails nature of the Australia-South Africa clashes that are most entertaining. Recently both teams have taken things too far, I for one don't excuse QdK's vile response to Warner, for crying out loud Quinton you're a pro sportsman, did the big man say nasty things that upset you? Just laugh at him! He's a lout, a really talented lout, but still a lout, he knows it, you know it. So yes behaviour on both sides could do with some introspection but the next time South Africa take 10/50 against Australia can it be because the Proteas have bowled and fielded like demons instead of a limp, distracted Aussie capitulation.
Tim Part
Roar Rookie
Thanks! I agree he probably didn't appreciate the backlash until after the press conference. This tells a story in itself - that all the various influences on Smith the player have overridden the instinctive nausea Smith the human should have felt when cheating shows that something is really wrong with the game's priorities. As a Pom typing from rainy London, I can say that this gives true cricket fans no pleasure at all. Sad times.
CarpingSouthAfrican
Guest
Soft? No. When the ICC and in recent events Cricket South Africa don't have the balls to tackle the wider issue of ball tampering with artificial substances properly then I hope CA does and as one of the triumvirate of global cricket power sets the standard for punishment for cheating and pushes for an introspection by the cricketing community into why tampering has been happening and what we could be doing to stamp it out. We'd all like the ball to get a few more advantages over the bat so bring on the reverse swing! But let's give fielding teams the freedom to "work" the ball in plain sight and the umpires should have a reliable, consistent way of comparing the condition of the ball to a minimum acceptable standard and replace it when it doesn't meet that standard... the art of working the ball to the limit will become more transparent and a skill to be honed. Sounds complicated right? But this here is what's HARD, it's about understanding the problem and working hard at a solution, the SOFT thing is what you did, deflection and denial. I have zero confidence in any of our South African sporting administrators being able to put in the HARD yards and now I'm hoping that CA will have the integrity and tenacity to push for change which will benefit all of us.
George
Guest
Bang on. Sutho probably just laughed.
Ches
Guest
@Paul You maybe right about the cocoon thing. Smith (without proper advice from a senior) went into that conference looking at it like the same perspective as the ICC. E.G a low level offence with maximum one match suspension. Players these days are encouraged to stay away from media reports and social media so it does not get into their head or get in trouble. They lose sight of what the public and former players etc (who want their heads) are thinking and have taken the situation.
moaman
Guest
Boggled. Happened to me too, a lot lately.
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
Hilarious.
Andrew
Guest
Go back to when our coach said he wanted to make Broad cry and called him a cheat for doing something that every player has done and CA didnt tell him to apologise.
Andrew
Guest
His english would be marked down yes but if you cant understand what he is saying you need to brush up on your own english.
Andrew Shephard
Roar Rookie
Loved your article, Tim. Really enjoyed how you approached it from a linguistic viewpoint, and how the choice of words reveals the mentality. I'm fascinated by that as well. It goes back and back and back -- back past the headbutting, back past hard-but-fair, back past 'banter' and 'chirp'. There is a nasty, unnecessarily aggressive mindset becoming part-and-parcel of wearing the baggy green, and with it comes that idea of sorry-not-sorry, and it's all good as long as we win and as long as everyone's thirsty. Personally, I can't get past the idea that Smith was setting himself to be second only to Bradman, and now this. Could you imagine, even for a moment, Don Bradman or his team feeling the need to resort to this, or any of the verbals, or any of the off-field nonsense? It says something -- something incredibly disappointing -- and even though I don't quite know what it is, it makes me feel sick in that way that you only feel when something you love is dying.
Dianne Andrews
Guest
In my opinion, problems started well before ball tampering. Go back to when Smith & co bragged about how they were going to target Rabada and get him worked up and banned (tactics that Lehmann knew about). Go back to Warners rabid dog reactions to SA wickets falling (which Lehmann obviously condoned). Unfortunately, the South Africans very sneakily and subtly turned the tables with much more effective tactics of their own and it was the Aussies who self imploded. I would have liked them to apologize to Australian public for their behaviour from day one, not just for their amateur attempt at ball tampering.
Paul
Roar Guru
I tried a couple of sentences in Google translate and it couldn't work out what they were either.
John Scott
Guest
....and in English we say???
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
There's a reason why every law enforcement agency in the world wants to get suspected perpetrators or witnesses into the interview room as soon as possible. Even in the rehearsed or learned answers, it's where the inconsistencies will sit and true nature hint at itself. It's where the denials themselves will lead you to the truth. It's where the half-truths are at their weakest. It's where what isn't said is the most damning, and what is, is often most candid. I usually avoid post-match sports interviews like I avoid party political broadcasts. There really is absolutely nothing to see. Although as painful as watching a car crash, the Bancroft Smith presser was must-see viewing.
Johnno
Guest
soft. Other nations cheat with ball tampeirng and there fans and media mostly support them and get behind them eg India with sachin, south africa with faf, pakistan with darell hair but here we are so nice. Same with soccer south maerica nations and italy don't mind cheating, boy they must be looking forward to playing the socceroos who don't dive lols. soft, just win at all costs clearly isn't the australian way anymore with us fans. If we handball ala theryy henry you lot would probably want a socceroo to own up or if we took a dive ala luca neil tackle, lose honorably than win by cheating seems to be the australian way. Boy team can hardly wait playing our sports sides from now on...
Paul
Roar Guru
Good article Tim. I really think, at the time of that first press conference, Smith in particular had zero idea about the avalanche his actions were going to bring on himself and the team. Maybe that's simply because of the cocoon elite sports people often find themselves, divorced from the reality of the public, thinking they can do just about anything "and it'll be orright". Under those circumstances, its not surprising it took 490 words to say "sorry". I bet that's one word hell be using one helluva lot in years to come.