At last count there were nearly 24.89 million opinions on the ball-tampering scandal besieging Australian cricket, but it will all be for nothing if the uproar doesn’t change how we play the game.
I mean not just the Australian cricket team, but how we play cricket throughout the nation – from the top level to the bottom, but especially in the ever-important premier cricket competitions in our state capitals.
At the ripe age of 36, I still have the dubious honour of playing premier cricket in Sydney, in a world that seems to be populated by ever younger cricketers, especially in the lower grades.
This competition, formally known as ‘grade’, is not prone to gentlemanly sportsmanship. From sledging, to ball tampering and intimidation of umpires, Australian cricket’s engine room has it all.
Sure, players maybe do not ‘cross the line’ quite like Cameron Bancroft did as he altered the condition of the ball using sticky tape, but we regularly “headbutt the line” as Nathan Lyon would say. Many games are played within the laws and spirit of the game, but a fair few are not.
I personally put it down to many of the young players copying their heroes in the national team, who push the limits of acceptable on-field behaviour pretty regularly these days. It’s not just a 2018 trend either.
Remember Michael Clarke’s infamous comment to James Anderson about his impending broken arm? That was 2013. I was recently welcomed to the batting crease by two comments from a nearby mid-off fielder, a player who looked to be in his early twenties.
“Check out this nerd, practising his shots at the non-striker’s end,” he said, as I shadowed a forward defence. I turned around and glared him down.
“F**k off,” he mouthed at me silently, making sure that he wasn’t heard by the umpire.
It finally took an interjection from a teammate, who explained that I was the opposition captain, for the young punk to stop his endless stream of comments in my direction. Even in the abusive world of premier cricket, sledging the opposition captain is poor form, apparently.
That day, our opposition (who will remain nameless) gave us send-offs and overly-aggressive appeals throughout, before our teenaged, number nine batsman was welcomed to the crease with this choice analysis from the opposition captain: “Let’s see if the worst bowler in all of grade cricket can hold a bat.”
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Now, we all want competitive amateur cricket in Australia, if it is to prepare our cricketers for higher honours. If you are a cricketer, you may think that the above comments are just fine.
But the fact is, the comments are not in line with the Spirit of the Game, as outlined in the MCC’s laws preamble, which clearly state that you should respect your opponent. The comments also breach the 2017 version of the laws, which has been expanded considerably to help umpires deal with bad behaviour in lower levels of cricket.
It is part of how we play the game. Too long have Australian cricketers hidden sharp practice on the field behind our country’s ‘competitive spirit’, and now, with the ball-tampering incident, the worm has turned and the general public has weighed in.
Sure, some of them only watch the cricket once a year, every Boxing Day Test, but their uproar is real and it should be respected. The last time there was this level of anger and concern about cricket in Australia was during the Phil Hughes tragedy in 2014.
Although it was of a very different nature, it was a moment that truly changed Australian cricket, as it made administrators and players better understand the dangers of short-pitched bowling. The bouncer hasn’t disappeared from cricket, but there is a sensitivity to the issue that has remained – certainly in the games that I have played in Sydney.
This time, I also hope that all the headlines can lead to a small change in how we play the game.
Darryl
Guest
I am ashamed to be called Australian at this point. Yes Steve and the rest have done the wrong thing and have been punished for it, a really stupid thing to do. But that is not why I am ashamed, we are all human / everyone makes mistakes and Steve and co are going to have to live with theirs mistake for the rest of their lives. What I am ashamed about is our media and a-hole celebrity commentators who think they have such higher moral standards than the rest of us (like they have never made a blue in their lives) and the seemingly lack of support for someone (in particular smith, but each of these blokes) who has given everything for this country and made one mistake and he is alienated and cast out and is know basically being bullied by social commentators The media and cricket Australia co have basically taken it upon them selves to destroy three young men's lives. NO game of cricket is worth that, these blokes have lost millions as punishment as well as lost reputation over one proven incedent. They have given thier lives and everything they have got to Australian Cricket before that. The pack metality of people in this country gearing towards the negative is unbelivable, how quickly we forget all the good a person has done. We are not even as loyal as the indians who when sachin tendulkar got accused of ball temparing they winged and complained until it got down graded to "cleaning the ball without umpires decision", probably because the umpires would of got stabbed in the back leavining the ground if they banned sachin. Even the south african captain has been caught twice...... But noooo when Australian player does the wrong thing and admits, acknoledges it and apologieses, people keep on kicking and kicking when they are down even though the poor blokes are about as low as they can go, cowardly stuff and it makes me angry, put yourselves in smiths position for one second and imagine how he feels, with the whole world watching. Again not saying what smith did was right but what I believe what is worse is the bully culture that the media and social commentators seem to have and most people just follow like sheep, its just cricket, and yes they deserve a fine/ban but they do not deserve to have one in which posibly thier entire lives are ruined by one incident, no one deserves that.
Paul
Roar Guru
A very good article Andre. You've talked eloquently about the culture that has obviously seeped into grade cricket at least and it probably stands to reason juniors are picking up on this as well. CA can't stop taking action now and hopefully won't stop once the investigation into the actual incident is completed. They have a duty of care to the game to improve standards across the board in Australia, but I doubt greatly that a Board, made up almost exclusively of bean counters, has the nouse or ability to make a cultural change as you suggest. There needs to be some clear, strong, unambiguous messaging going out to anyone remotely connected to the game about expected standards of behaviour, the need for umpires and adminstrators to take prompt action when even the slightest infraction is noted and make penalties that "fit the crime". Maybe the message might even get through to the opposition genius who was fielding at mid off.
Akkara
Guest
Well Said! The international backlash is not because of the ball tampering, but because of, as Trent Bolt said "the loathing" of our cricket team due to 50 years of abuse and disrespect hurled at opposition teams. Even the Australian public are shocked at how much this team is hated. Due to social media, we now have a measure of it. It's such hypocrisy when the Chappells, Border, Waugh, Clarke even open their mouth regarding this matter. My son is one of those you mention, going through the Grade system, and unlike me, he has never seen cricket played as a gentlemen s game. When I pull him up for making remarks on the field, he tells me, I, do not know how it is played today. Unfortunately he only follows the Australian team, so he does not know the manner in which the match in Eden park was conducted this week. Many of these cricketers are not rocket scientists, but simple good blokes (with a few exception). But on the cricket field, they put on the Aussie cricket culture, and are despicable. Someone may have said this before, "Forgive them, for they know not what they are doing".