The cheek of the man!
He’s blatantly guilty of pre-planned ball-tampering and yet he says he won’t resign. How dare he be so arrogant? He must be immediately removed by CA from the captaincy and from the team. Forever!
Australia has always prided itself on not cheating – that’s a reputation that will take years to re-establish. On any home ground, Smith will be booed off, I’m sure.
I’m also inclined to the view that the “leadership group”, whoever they are, should also be banned from playing in their country’s colours ever again, whatever that does to our chances of winning international matches. Actually, they’re not all that hot at the moment and there are plenty of young (and not so young) state cricketers ready to take their place.
On behalf of Australian Cricket, I apologise for the deplorable behaviour of our National Cricket Team and its ex-captain.
Sob!
Boadicea's Chariot 
Unfortunately some players seem to believe the only crime is getting caught. This time the culprits’ reactions were cynical in the extreme.
Fair dinkum, Bearsy. Thanks for posting. Unnaturally, I like England the most but have time and respect for all the other teams.
A bad day for cricket.
I think Michael Vaughan summed it up beautifully. This team is so caught up with winning that it forgot that winning by cheating is not winning…
SS has had a slap on the wrists so far. Surely there has to be more than that?
“He’s blatantly guilty of pre-planned ball-tampering”. How does pre-planned tampering differ from planned tampering?
I read this in the SMH. “Senator Hanson said pre-orders for her book, Pauline, In Her Own Words, were strong and a second print run had already been ordered.”
Why was the second print only ordered and not pre-ordered. It all gets very confusing.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/detestable-tony-abbott-to-launch-pauline-hanson-book-20180326-p4z6b2.html
I confess I had not realised or at least had forgotten that Pauline H had been convicted of electoral fraud at the instigation of Tony Abbott and that the conviction had subsequently been quashed. Ms Hanson’s ability to forgive her arch-enemy is admirable. I wonder if this whole book launch escapade had been pre-planned.
Speaking of the Hanson-Abbott rapprochement, Captain Smith had better hope that the rest of Australia is as forgiving, though judging by the high regard with which the Chappell brothers are held, despite, ‘the underarm incident’, I suspect Smith and his cabal will soon be welcomed back into the Aussie bosom. In fact they have probably been pre-forgiven.
I very much doubt it, Sipu.
Perhaps preplanning is a prerequisite of preparation?
“Perhaps preplanning is a prerequisite of preparation?” I have noticed that lot of TV chefs advocate pre-preparing the ingredients before putting in a pre-heated oven.
From what I have seen of the current debacle in question, the evidence of cheating is there for all to see in glorious, slow motion, High Definition technicolour; the Aussie players are quite rightly being booed from pavilion to crease and back again and are likely to receive a deservedly hostile reception on their return home by all accounts, yet the Aussie hierarchy are objecting to this treatment by spectators who paid and pay good money to see a game of cricket and are merely voicing their displeasure at being denied that wish.
I don’t really know where to start on this, Bearsy. To be sure it is a sad day for cricket generally and for the Aussie game in particular, but I also rather regret it is not yet another nail in the coffin of professional sport where money seems increasingly to have become the root of all evil.
I have never seen, for example, so many professional athletes ‘suffering’ from acute asthma requiring the prescribing and consumption of otherwise banned, performance enhancing medications (ahem!), particularly in the lead up to an event they might not win. However, Maria Sharapova crossed the line and was taking something that became absolutely banned, yet kept on taking it. OK, she was suspended for a while but is now back screaming her way up the rankings as if nothing had happened.
Wayne Rooney, erstwhile England kissball captain, innit, was picked up by the Fuzz (no, I mean the Police, not his hair transplant) driving with a female who was not his wife at dark o’clock near a Cheshire ‘nitespot’ having consumed way too meeny martoonis – three times the legal limit, to be precise. There followed a quiet court case, a ridiculously small fine and a two year driving ban, but no prison sentence as would otherwise been applied had he not been, according to his substantial legal team, a prominent ‘role model and tireless charity worker’. Likewise Cristiano ‘The Diver’ Ronaldo is currently charged with criminally evading nearly €15 million of taxes in Spain for which the prosecution are seeking a punitive fine and significant years behind bars, but neither of these sanctions is ever going to happen in a million years, as any fule kno. Pretty Boy, meanwhile claims he is been persecuted,’ because of who I am’.
Ben Stokes, England cricketer, is currently charged with assault yet has already been reinstated to the one-day team and is already talking of moving on with his career after this minor inconvenience, again as if nothing had happened.
And many, many others past and present on a seemingly endless list.
I do not claim to know the answer. Obviously a return to fully amateur sport is a naive pipe dream, but on the other hand is it too much to ask that such public prominence and earnings way beyond the means of the supporters who fund their lavish careers should bring a corresponding moral responsibility and conduct? If not, professional sportspeople (?), and not forgetting the plump-suited apologists in the committee rooms, need to be regulated much more closely and it’s back to burger flipping if you cross a given line rather than glibly ‘learning lessons’ and ‘moving on’ with impervious disdain for those who for better or worse look up to you.
OZ
Akshully, OZ, in NZ only today (and I quote):
Ben Stokes was dismissed three balls before the dinner break after making 66 from 188 balls
First Test, Eden Park, Auckland (day five of five)
England 58 & 320: Stokes 66; Astle 3-39
New Zealand 427-8 dec: Nicholls 145; Broad 3-78
New Zealand won by an innings and 49 runs
OZ.
I’m also hoping that this will not just be “Naughty Boys” – “Go stand in the Naughty Corner” and we will, then, all forget that you were ever “Naughty”…
Cricket Australia’s initial reaction was all set to be just that sort of reponse… until P.M. Turnbull (who is already renowned for making moral judgements on what he saw as one particular Politician’s ‘immoral’ actions) decided to weigh in – and denounce the actions of Smith & Co as ‘unacceptable’…
I could even end up liking Turnbull for that! CA did a rapid about-face.
The Australian Public is absolutely outraged. Forget whatever is reported in the Foreign Media. There is no backing here for Steve Smith or Warner to retain their present positions. I reckon if the Tower of London was still available for Public Executions – Smith and Warner would be standing on Tower Green…
As I’m sure you well know Ozzies like to see themselves as ‘warm cuddly koalas upholding old-fashioned traditions that the rest of the world has forgotten.” They forget that koalas are pretty vicious animals – not so unlike the present cricketing mob. What has really been highlighted in the press is that this privileged bunch live in a bubble of non-reality… again I’m sure you know how most Ozies feel about that!
The major sponsors, like Qantas, are questioning their role in paying enormous sums of money to support a sporting activity which is clearly being run in a way that the man / woman in the street abhors.
You are absolutely right… a return to amateur sports will never happen…
Money, does indeed, Rule All these days…
But if Companies like Quantas, Sanitarium et al refuse to sponsor sports that do not abide by the generally accepted ideals of what sport is about, the money-grubbing CEOs of institutions like CA will do their level best to to run their organisations in a way that is acceptable to the general public…
Personally, I would like to see the Aussie team returning to Kingsford Smith or wherever they eventually skulk back into the country to be met by an empty arrivals hall – no supporters, nothing, and no ‘special’ VIP back door escape route either. Alternatively, if people must go, I hope they do so simply in order to turn their backs to the gate in silent protest as the current batch of disgraced ‘heroes’ make their appearance.
A loss of sponsors would be a good thing, but CA would really be stuffed if nobody bought match tickets unless and until meaningful, permanent changes are made, including a new squad untainted by recent and not so recent events, a fresh management structure and responsible suits in the committee rooms if such suits indeed serve any useful purpose.
If this is not an ideal opportunity to cleanse the Augean stables, I don’t know what is.
OZ
Oz has it spot on.
All professional sports are corrupt, money grubbing and utterly despicable.
For the life of me I have never been able to understand the pathetic adulation of their so called idiot fans so willing to contribute their hard earned cash to such a bunch of tossers!
Whole lot of them need the reality check of ten years hard labour.
Having to putatively endure that crap on a television makes spousal unit’s Wagner seem like a very soft option!
Thank God for the greenhouse.
Corruption in all walks. Bet there’s corrupt gardeners that feed their plants steroids or other banned substances.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2005481/Village-uproar-time-winner-pumpkin-growing-contest-admits–I-m-cheat.html
Good evening, Bearsy.
I feel your pain. A truly dreadful day for Australian cricket.
But, there have also been many positive aspects to celebrate.
The reaction of nearly every Australian commentator or former player has been admirable even if some of it made for difficult listening (Jim Maxwell).
There has been some memorable writing as well:-
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-26/steve-smith-and-australia-ball-tampering-scandal/9586454
When I started typing this comment, I was sure that Smith was finished and that Warner and Lehmann would be lucky to survive. I now see that events are moving swiftly and that all three are probably history.
I admit to being a bit upset that the British Press are now dragging the Ashes into the affair and trying to suggest that Aussie ball-tampering contributed to ‘our’ humiliation in the last series. Totally irrelevant.
My overall impression is of a nation who take a pride in the fair albeit focused way they play their sports and who feel nothing but contempt for the individuals who have brought such shame to the baggy green.
Moving on, I myself have nothing but contempt for the ICC and the derisory punishments which they have handed out to Smith and Bancroft.
Mind, I’m biased when it comes to the ICC – a bunch of money-grubbing chancers who pander to India instead of trying to expand the game. Cutting the World Cups 2019 and 2023 from 12 to 10 teams was and is unforgiveable.
Wouldn’t have been so upset, of course, if we had beaten Ireland or not ‘lost’ to the Windies by 5 runs after Duckworth-Lewis kicked in.
To be fair, I’m also slightly worried that Jason Gillespie might get the Aussie coaching gig. I think he would probably be a bit too good at that job for my liking.
Royalist, funny!
The only ghastly gardening tale I know of was in Wales. The village policeman kept on winning everything at the show, unreasonably. So, to fix him good, someone else took his goat into the policeman’s garden the day before the show, and left it there for hours, oh my!
I’m afraid the whole village laughed for years.
Very carefully, my contribution to the festivities was to demonstrate spinning and let others have a go and many wool samples that all the farmers were interested in, needless to say nobody else could spin! No competition whatsoever.
Personally I never compete with flowers or veg, I did once for a ‘courtyard garden’ when I had a Marstons pub. Won hands down, a beautiful cut glass decanter, still have it on the sideboard. Never ever competed again, it spoilt the whole summer keeping it quite so immaculate.
My garden is immaculate now, but solely for my own satisfaction. I don’t give a damn what anybody else thinks.
Phew! Glad you took that in the right spirit, Mrs O. Great response. Competitive gardening, that’s a new one for me. Knew there was something fishy about having greenfingers! (apologises for stealing your exclamation mark)
Pumpkins aside, cheating with balls isn’t the exclusive preserve* of cricket. American football had its ‘deflategate’ scandal which exposed many of the behavioural flaws now being addressed in Australia.
If you care to, you can remind yourself with this NY times article:
*is this tautologous, I wonder?
And here is the real thing.
Hey Sipu! That’s brilliant 🙂
Nice comment in the Times nails the problem:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/do-we-really-believe-only-three-men-were-involved-in-australias-ball-tampering-plot-6ngqdkqvb
Just watched Smith’s and Lehman’s press conferences.
Nearly felt sorry for them. Nearly.
He won’t do it again, will he? Especially after losing all the dosh from Weet-biz.
Good. Now let’s move on and watch England lose at cricket and the world will be back to normal.
Sorry, Weet-bix
Yes – a great emotional performance – or maybe truly felt.
But, who knows whether it was for the act …
… or for being caught.
I’d tend to think the former if it were not for the constant reiteration of the phrase that it was “a serious lack of judgement” rather than an honest statement which would be: “We tried to cheat”.
What they did was not a matter of “judgement” – it was a clear, intentional, and pre-meditated action contrary to both the laws and spirit of the game of cricket.
It might also help, if it were not for the fact that an umpire has come out stating that he had to warn both Smith and Warner against ‘ball-tampering’ about 18 months ago… fortunately, it would seem that he told others of his concern. But, I doubt that his story will be widely publicised.
Cynic that I am, I can’t help but feel that Warner (being older and therefore having a limited batsman’s-life) is being thrown to the wolves, while CA is trying to support Smith for future use on the field.
But, as one reporter has (in my words) said, that it is OK to see Smith so distraught in the face of adversity – but is such a man really the right man for the job of Captain of the Ozzie Cricket team?
I too watched the press conferences of the main perpetrators and found both their behaviour and demeanour distasteful in the extreme, doing nothing but to compound their original transgression(s)(s)(s) with an insincere, stage-managed , onion-peeling ‘mea culpa’ and a hugely cynical ‘oh, and remember to pick me again soon’ to finish.
Meanwhile CA, whose initial attitude was to dismiss the whole scandal as unimportant, and the ICC sail on regardless with the same fat, complacent suits at the helm. No guilty parties there then, no Siree!
OZ