The Cricket Thread

[ZoonMaster5000]

Can’t believe Steve Smith thought he could carry on as team captain after this ball-tampering scandal - he was fooling himself thinking he wouldn’t get stood down.

Arguably being the Aussie Cricket Team Captain is about the highest post a sports player can aspire to in this country - he got the top job and now this all he will ever be remembered for, even if by some miracle they let him resume his captaincy after the current test.

Of course a lot of the team share the guilt - reckon some heads should roll over this

I think the part where Lehman told the 12h man to go and tell him he’d was caught on tv will put his job in jeopardy. Pretty sure I read smithy lost his spot in the ipl too

[drifand]

Disgraceful to Australia.

[i_amtrunks]

Abut time they got busted, all teams try it at one point or another but never this stupidly. A yellow piece of tape in a series where the home broadcaster is actively hunting for anything to use as ammo to try and deflect attention away from other incidents from the crowd and Saffers.

Everyone doing it doe not make it right, Smith was very lucky to only get one match suspension, should have been more for the stupidity and blatant disrespect of the laws of the game. He could have the perfect career and be the best since Bradman from here on in but this will always be a blight, just as Monkeygate forever stains the reputation of Anil Kumble (outside of India of course!)

The question remains, who should be captain now? Warner has shown it ct be him, Mitch Marsh is lucky to hold his position and Paine could be gone at any point with the way selectors are with keepers.

Poor Bancroft too, Smith threw him under the bus in that press conference. I've not seen such terrible leadership in sport since Clarke used to get Hussey, Haddin, Watson and whoever else to do his media and interviews so he could preen himself in the mirror. Definitely an abuse of power by making the young guy with only 8 tests to his name do the dirty work. Not that he is guiltless, but I cannot imagine the pressure he would've been under to do the job.

Here's hoping Smith, Warner and the other "leaders" lose their sponsorship deals and face some actual repercussions for their stupidity and complete breaking of the trust of their supporters.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Poor Bancroft too, Smith threw him under the bus in that press conference. I've not seen such terrible leadership in sport since Clarke used to get Hussey, Haddin, Watson and whoever else to do his media and interviews so he could preen himself in the mirror. Definitely an abuse of power by making the young guy with only 8 tests to his name do the dirty work. Not that he is guiltless, but I cannot imagine the pressure he would've been under to do the job.

I thought the same thing. Bloody shameful putting the newest, most inexperienced player in that position. I mean, what was the poor bugger to do? If he had said no it would have put him in the bad books with his captain. If he had reported it it would have put him in the bad books with his whole team. As it is he went along with it and now there will always be that big blemish on his record.

I agree, he is not guilt free and was the one that actually took the action, but realistically he was put in a very difficult position where it would have been hard to say no. Like being the youngest in a gang and the older kids egging you on to shoplift - ya are gonna get in trouble if you get caught but if you refuse then the gang will then gang up on you.

[MayzaPrime]

And with this I am done with test and one day cricket...

I will just enjoy the big bash on TV...

I will never be able to respect an Australian side with the current leadership group.

[Deonasis]

Smith should have a x-game ban and be ineligible for captain for a whole year. The same for the rest of the leadership team.

Right now, who knows what Lehmann said but if he had prior knowledge too, he must stand aside as well.

The baggy green is now the dodgy green.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I will never be able to respect an Australian side with the current leadership group.

Smith should have a x-game ban and be ineligible for captain for a whole year. The same for the rest of the leadership team.

The baggy green is now the dodgy green.

Exactly right!

I don't usually write blogs about current events, but I had to write one about this because I am so p*ssed off!

[ZoonMaster5000]

Tomorrow’s age says that warner is the ring leader in the whole tampering saga. I the test should be forfeited and some massive fines and bans thrown their wY

[i_amtrunks]

Now that the inquiry has been done and the punishments handed down, I am fairly happy that they are all receiving fair punishment.

It’s now up to the ICC and the other nations boards to follow suit the next time Faf or anyone else ball tampers or the only winners out of this whole sorry saga will be the Indian touring team who finally have a chance to be competitive in tests in Australia for the first time since the disgraceful monkeygate team.

I’m glad cricket Australia have decided to go tough on the cheats, it send a clear message to anyone else stupid enough to try it when there are over 30 cameras focussed on you at all times. While it seems Warner was the main instigator and may or may not have pressured Bancroft, Smith surely had to have known something was up and has done he right thing and taken blame, even if he was more innocent than first believed.
Losing their sponsors and IPL contracts will hurt more in the long run but it seems Smith and Bancroft were genuinely sorry they got caught while Warner has gone full Warne and decided not to give a rats!

[Borgeman]

We've always considered our athletes as above cheating, which is why our own punishments were so severe. Other nations have been happy to let the ICC handle these issues and I believe they will continue to do so (though I could see NZ smacking their boys around too if it happened). The ICC fined/suspended our players much the same as they have done to others in the past so they stayed consistent with their dealing of ball tampering.

This is sending a message to our own players and future players telling them not to be dumb shits by trying to cheat.

As an aside I think if the players were to appeal the sanctions they'll have them reduced, given that no ball tampering incident in the past, both locally and abroad, has had anything near this sort of punishment, irrespective of the way the events played out.