“Cricket is a game that owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that it should be played not only within its Laws but also within the Spirit of the Game. Any action which is seen to abuse this spirit causes injury to the game itself.”
The preamble to the Laws of Cricket espouses the greatest virtue of this game we love, that as participants we are not merely players, rather we are all guardians of historically enshrined moral and ethical rules which are not set in stone (like the ten commandments), but which reflect only the noblest characteristics of goodness and piety in humanity.
This very principled accountability, placed predominantly on team captains but extending to all players, match officials and, especially in junior cricket, teachers, coaches and parents, is reiterated through the written laws; the first which places the greatest responsibility for upholding of the spirit of the game on the team captain, the second which decrees that the Umpires remain the sole judges of what constitutes fair and unfair play.
It is somewhat ironic that the Marylebone Cricket Club Code of Laws was adopted in May 1788, the year the First Fleet arrived in Australia.
Whilst it would be some 90 years before the first cricket team from Australia (comprising First Nations players), arrived in England and a further 9 years before the first national teams of England and Australia would battle for supremacy, it wasn’t until 1882 that the Ashes were born.
This year’s series marks the 140th anniversary since the Ashes were contested and during this time, those noble characteristics so espoused by the preamble have oft been misplaced, or maybe just missed the team transport to the game.
When viewed historically, the events which caused such consternation at Lords this past week will sit nicely alongside the plethora of controversial actions taken by the guardians of our game since the birth of the Ashes.
The litany of past transgressions on the so-called ‘Spirit of the Game’ by players from both hemispheres is being regurgitated online at such a rate I’m sure it’s hampering the ability for rogue nations to conduct their normal cyberwarfare activities.
If history teaches us anything it is that thankfully, despite our failures to maintain our most sacred duty to protect the spirit of the game, the game has not been diminished nor injured. Rather it has thrived, especially where the Ashes are concerned.
The Ashes series continues to engender the national esprit de corps like no other contest, and any controversy only exacerbates this national fervour.
As far as the players are concerned, the preamble promotes respect as the prime characteristic of the Spirit of Cricket, providing the following guidelines:
No doubt, readers opinions will vary on who transgressed these ideals, during and post the incident in question.
Notwithstanding, in hindsight the greatest disrepute brought to our mutually loved pastime by recent events was not from the actions of the players directly involved in the dismissal of Jonny Bairstow, but rather from the members of the watching public (even dare I say, MCC members), whose questionably justified anger was on display for all and sundry to see.
But then again, they have not been not appointed to uphold the Spirit of the Game.
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