This is quite possibly the stickiest situation for Australian cricket since Sticky the stick insect got stuck on a sticky wicket. At times like this it seems apt to fall back on Blackadder references. If only because Australia’s attempts to win the second test against South Africa by using sticky tape like sandpaper was a plan so lacking in cunning that even Baldrick would’ve blushed. The result? They’ve not got a fully blown Australia ball-tampering scandal on their hands.
Yesterday Steve Smith was the golden boy of Australian cricket. In fact, the cherubic / hamster faced ginger was probably the golden boy of world cricket (alongside his Viratness). But today he’s just a cheat. And that’s who he’ll be for the rest of his career – the man who admitted that his senior players had got together, made a conscious decision to cheat, and then executed the plan … very badly. If I was an Australian I’d be embarrassed and apoplectic. I’d want Smith’s head on a platter.
However, Smith’s team aren’t just cheats. They’re also hypocrites. They’ve moaned about Quinton de Kock making comments about David Warner’s wife; they’ve moaned about South African sledging crossing a line (pot, kettle, black); and they’ve moaned about Kasigo Rabada giving their poor innocent skipper the mother of all send-offs (in which he brushed Smith’s shoulder as he walked passed him). And yet they’ve been caught cheating … and many might suspect they’ve been cheating all along. What’s more, nobody know how long this Australia ball-tampering has been going on? They might even have been cheating during the Ashes. Not that they needed to, ahem.
Australian cricket has now lost any moral high-ground for the foreseeable future. In fact, they’ve lost all credibility around the world full stop. This isn’t the first time they’ve been accused of cheating after all. From now on there will be suspicious glances every time they win a test. Past achievements will be questioned. And the position of their captain is, in my opinion, completely untenable. Thus far Smith has refused to resign because he wants to steady the ship and put things right. That’s a bit like Allen Stanford arguing that he shouldn’t go to prison because he’s the best man to clean up corruption at Stanford Financial Group.
Smith has also landed his teammates (and the coaching team?) in the s**t during his press conference. Yes there’s something to be said for admitting one’s < cough > mistakes < cough >, but his admittance that the senior players had all agreed on this strategy begs the question who else in Australia’s team is a cheat? He’ll surely have to give names now. I wonder if David ‘father of the year’ Warner will be one of them?
The next obvious question is what sanctions Smith, Bancroft (the junior player tasked with doing the illicit deed), the other senior players, and possibly even the coach Darren Lehmann will face. Personally I’d throw the book at them. We all know that players bend the rules by sucking sweets to help them shine the ball, but using an artificial substance on the leather directly is a whole new ball game. It’s right up there with using a bottle-top. The Aussies might claim it was only sticky tape, but tape that’s old and abrasive, with dirt (and heaven knows what else) attached to it, is basically like using sandpaper. This form of Australian ball-tampering is altering the state of the ball in the most cynical and direct way. Personally I think hefty fines and long bans are in order. Australian should also forfeit the match.
Although some Englishmen will be rolling in the aisles over this controversy it actually makes me quite sad. I have a lot of affection for Australian cricket, have many Australian friends, and even Australian second cousins. What’s more, I think this is extremely damaging for the game of cricket in general. We all assume and expect that professional sportsmen will bend the rules somewhat in the pursuit of victory. Many might call this gamesmanship. But this Australia ball-tampering scandal is cheating pure and simple. It’s a national disgrace.
James Morgan
No, you expect all sportsmen to play within the laws. Games,anship is just a fancy word for cheating
“the position of their captain is, in my opinion, completely untenable”.
1) Atherton didn’t go back in the day of “dirt in the pocket”.
2) Ball-tampering is a Level 2 offence under the ICC code.
3) The umpires didn’t change the ball.
Australia have had this coming (mainly as a result of the FDP “mint in the mouth” story) and I haven’t much sympathy for them but there’s some overraction going on. The best so far is the one on the Guardian thread that wants Australia suspended from international cricket for two years – but the night is young…..
I want something to be done as all this sledging, abuse, ball tampering etc is completely out of hand in the modern pro and amateur game.
However, I am of the same view.. very little of relevance will be done
Before the aggrieved Proteas spring into a stream of righteous comments on this incident, lest they forget ‘13, ‘14 & ‘16!
Bancroft’s role in this reminds me a tad of the Singapore Grand Prix scandal in F1 back in around 08/09… Nelson Piquet Jr was the offender.
A novice who really was on borrowed time in the team agreeing to some skullduggery in the hopes he would be recognised as “a team player” and get selected for a longer term…
Or Amir bowling deliberate no balls for Butt and Asif.
Again, you are drawing an inappropriate analogy. This isn’t spot-fixing.
We’ve had players pinged for altering the state of the ball before. That is the precedent.
Your insistence on putting it on the same scale as doping and spot-fixing is irrational.
You missed the point. The analogy was with the senior members of the team “fitting up” a junior member. It wasn’t discussing punishment. You haven’t explained why ball tampering isn’t on the same scale as doping and spot or match fixing, by the way. Isn’t it all cheating?
We shall see what Cricket Australia decides to do about Smith. I’ve seen talk of a year’s ban.
Ball tampering is on the same scale as ball tampering. Imagine that. And there are precedents for how that is punished. How long was Du Plessis banned for?
You’re correct that Cricket Australia may well hand down a harsher penalty. All that proves is that Australia Cricket is inclined to demand a higher standard than other boards and the ICC.
The reaction is Australia has been shrill and misguided. A talkback/social media lynch mob. And Cricket Australia will need to appease that.
Did you see what Matt Prior tweeted when Du Plessis got busted? He said the sanction was ridiculous because “every single team does it”. But now the Australians are on the hook and it’s a different ball game? How convenient.
In case you hadn’t heard, Warner and Smith got 12 month bans, Bancroft 9 months. We shall see what happens after that. I’m not sure everyone accepts CA’s “Boof is innocent” line.
I don’t recall many close ups on the Aussies when fielding in the Ashes.
I reckon the camera crew were in on it.
The Aussies were swinging it round corners while Jimmy and Stuart couldn’t do a thing with it. It’s all become clear now.
I doubt it – the attempt this weekend was (a) far too amateurish to have been going on for long and (b) Bancroft didn’t succeed in damaging the ball.
Jimmy & Broad simply weren’t bowling quick enough to swing a Kookaburra
Have you been talking to Michael Vaughan, Fred?
Rumour has it, Warner used to wear tape round his knuckles, but only when fielding. The nature of this tape might bear further examination.
Bancroft is the fall guy, he should be banned, as he was tampering. But the buck stops with Smith & Lehmann.
I doubt they’ve been doing it before, with 2m cameras at each test, they’d have been spotted.
We lost The Ashes, because we were poor, not because of cheating.
Got to be honest, I like the sledging, as long as it stays on the pitch, and is directed at the player, and not his family.
Rabada shouldn’t have been banned in the first place, but the incident did add spice to the series, which is fine.
Right, having lived in Oz for over 30 years, this my take:
1. Smith isn’t bright enough to have come up with this idea;
2. Bancroft was “chosen” because he’s the new kid on the block and trying to get on in the Test team;
3. Warner is an evil little shit and I believe he concocted this whole plan, but;
4. To cover his own arse, Warner went to Smith, told him the plan and then conned the captain to rope Bancroft in.
5. I believe this is what happened because apart from Warner stepping down as VC, he’s gone unpunished;
6. Warner will probably end up being re-instated and;
7. Warner will get the captaincy
ONE WINNER – TWO LOSERS!
Warner isn’t captaining anything, champ.
It’ll be Paine in the interim, then Mitch Marsh as the next long-term skipper.
I wouldn’t be that surprised if this was the first time they’d done it. I reckon they cracked under the pressure in South Africa, with a side, and a country for that matter, that won’t put up with their bullshit and have given as good as they’ve got. And under a siege mentality, and a win at all costs approach, they arrived at this terrible terrible decision. It seems easy to see how the two most set upon men, namely Smith and Warner, could spin paranoid justifications for this course of action.
I’m trying to think of a catchy term to describe this terrible lapse in judgement. Does anyone think “mental disintegration” has a nice ring to it?
It’s not just all the aggro in the series – they’re also staring down the barrel of being the first Australian team to lose a series in SA since re-integration. It’s not something the “management group” want on their CVs.
One of the major problems here is the way host broadcasters have become entirely partisan and don’t see that they have any broader duty to values like the game, truth or humanity (as pretentious as those things might sound). It’s difficult to believe it was a coincidence Australian TV got film of FDP’s supposed ball-tampering out almost immediately but Indian TV’s footage of Kohli doing exactly the same thing in a home Test didn’t emerge until much later and it was too late to punish him. C9 are the absolute pits here but let’s not pretend most of the other broadcasters are much better. However as the ICC is run by administrators who make no apology for putting their own interests first they aren’t in much position to do anything about it even if they wanted to and could.
Bancroft seen during the ashes putting sugar in his pocket now.. this has been going on for each and every game. Kohli called them out for using drs from the coaches too.
Long bans needed, sackings and a removal of tv from the dressing room and zero comminicsrions tools to remove the temptation to cheat
Cricket is falling down the toilet with sledging on the rise, abuse, aggressiveness and more cheating
ICC need to take a stand or it will simply disolve into football and die
Moral Bancrofsy!
I do think it should cost Smith his job. If admitting to planning and executing a cheating strategy, involving junior team members, and bringing game/AC into disrepute doesn’t cost him, that in itself brings the game into further disripute
I don’t think Smith is in any danger (beyond his international reputation taking a hit – there are those in the Oz press corps who’d probably give him a medal). Bad though this is, I’m not sure it’s a sacking offence. A fine certainly, a ban possibly (although Bancroft will presumably be the fall guy if it comes to that) but probably not a sacking. Who would they give the captaincy to if he was forced out? Anyway, he’s done what he was told and (mostly) made all the right noises – expressing regret, deflecting any blame from Lehmann, claiming it’s never happened before and promising it’ll never happen again. All the usual crap. Implicating other senior players in the “management group” (if you only knew how I detest that expression…) maybe wasn’t the wisest move though. Instead of a line being drawn under the incident, attention will inevitably now move on to who else was in on it.
Organised, deliberate cheating and it’s not a sacking offence. Fuck me. Some strange views about.
I’m not taking a view on whether or not it “ought” to be a sacking offence, but as SimonH points out above other captains have survived being found out in similar situations – Atherton in 1994 being one example we’re presumably all familiar with. The one thing that’s different here is the admission that it was effectively a conspiracy involving several senior players. That’s a major complicating factor for Cricket Australia to consider in their response. Would it be sane or proportionate to sack Smith as captain when that sanction isn’t available in the case of X, Y & Z because a) they’re not the captain and b) as the other senior players in the team one of them would probably have to become the captain to replace Smith ? Yes it was deliberate cheating (however ineffective it actually was) and I don’t condone that at all.
In SA after you are twice convicted of ball tampering they make you captain. Phillander’s only been convicted once so he may be next SA captain. The only thing different here is Smith came clean rather than making further excuses like most people do.
Smith has been stood down and seems likely he will never captain again. Nor should he even from a amoral sense this is a leadership shambles of the highest order.
However we can contrast this with Tendulkar being convicted of tampering they refused the match referee next match and it was not played as a test as a result. Faf denies it despite the video evidence. Trescothick admitted it only many years after he stopped playing. Broad just did it because it was a hot day.
I don’t think the average Aussie supporter will be particularly upset, as levels of cheating have been exposed all over the place in recent years. The fact that Smith has blatantly admitted his team’s complicity and refused to consider stepping down suggests he doesn’t expect the isssue to be more than a storm in a teacup. The conduct of the Aussies under Smith has always been an issue and there seems to be a culture of brinkmanship concerning behaviour, both on and off the field. The fact remains that as a level 2 disciplinary issue, Smith cannot technically even be charged with bringing the game into disrepute. Gamesmanship and sportsmanship are 2 sides of the same coin here.
Coming from a country that saw little wrong with Trevor Chappell’s underarm final delivery to clinch a victory it is seemingly in the nation’s ‘shoot from the hip’ psyche. Look at Eddie Jones prematch derogatory off the cuff comments about Wales and Ireland. No English coach would have been stupid enough to even suggest this, whatever they thought in private.
Those Eddie Jones comments weren’t pre-match, they were at a private function nearly a year ago. The video spent 8 months on YouTube before it went viral.
They were still a daft thing to say, even as banter, but com0letely different context.
Probably worth looking at what Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull had to say. Also Jim Maxwell.
Ban the cheating feckers. As Chris Gayle says, the Aussies are great at being tough guys on the field but ask them for a meet behind the pavilion and suddenly they have to depart sharpish having forgot to turn the Barbie off.
Chris Gayle: A fount of wisdom and cricket’s moral compass. Not.
Pffttt .., OK James.
Maybe take a deep breath and have another go at it.
Your PM seems to agree with him.
What is the ICC sanction for this?
A one-match ban.
It was an extraordinarily stupid thing to do. But that’s how seriously the game’s administrative body takes it.
Cricket Australia take it a little bit more seriously than that, it seems….
You don’t think it’s telling that the ICC has responded with a slap on the wrist?
Yes. Very telling……. of what the ICC’s priorities are. And it’s obviously not fair play in cricket
So who is meant to mete out sanctions if not the ICC?
Oh, and it’s not stupid. Getting caught is stupid. Doing it is cheating.
Yes Australia will take this much more seriously than any other country. This is the first time an Austrailan has been found guilty of ball tampering, (unlike pretty much every other country) and I’m pretty sure the CA penalty will be harsher than the ICC one when most boards throw a tantrum and appeal everything.
Atherton remained captain, Faf twice convicted of ball tampering and made captain. Tendulkar accused and had a test called off as a result when India threw a tantrum, but no CA will take it more seriously than anyone else (as it should be).
Not because its worse, but because Australia is held to a higher standard of behaviour.
It was stupid and incompetent attempts at cheating.
Tom, The ICC have given Smith the maximum penalty that their existing rules allow. Unfortunately the current rules don’t differentiate between using a sweet to enrich saliva and using sandpaper (or tape) directly on the ball to scuff it up. It seems, from your comments below, that you can’t differentiate between bending the rules and breaking them either. And if you can’t tell the difference between one player acting alone and a team conspiracy involving the captain (which they then tried to cover up by stashing the tape in Bancroft’s pants) then I’m afraid I can’t help you.
You’re completely on the wrong side of this debate Tom. And it says a lot about your uniquely pro-Australian and anti-English prejudices. All respectable Aussie judges like Jim Maxwell, Adam Gilchrist, and even your prime minister, have utterly condemned Smith. And yet here you are saying it’s no big deal … and having another pop at the poms in the process.
I’ll have to start blocking your comments again if you can’t be constructive. I’ve just been through them all below and you just make the same point again and again to different people. It’s exactly what got rather boring during the Ashes.
Yes – the ICC have meted out the maximum penalty. I’m aware of that. So what do you propose from here? Are you suggesting that it’s now up to Cricket Australia to adopt higher standards than the rest of the world and the game’s governing body?
I mean, I guess that’s one way to look at it. But I’d have thought that rather cuts against your general view of Australian cricket. But sure, if it falls to Australia to do what other boards haven’t done, I guess that will be our cross to bear.
As for my biases, that’s a bit rich. How about your biases?
The whole tone from English fans suggests they’re so wounded by the Ashes loss and the subsequent performance in NZ – and so spiteful towards Australian cricket in general – that they’re simply dining out on this episode to make themselves feel better. If that’s the case, so be it. But let’s not pretend it’s unbiased.
Yes I do think the ACB should be firmer than the ICC because they don’t have to abide by an existing code. I think they will be firm too because they, unlike you, are appalled by what their team has done.
It’s worth noting that during the Atherton ‘soil’ incident the England skipper wasn’t sanctioned by the match referee at all. The punishment came from the ECB.
Re: bias on this blog I have to say that I think it’s all in your head. I can’t speak for everyone on here but I’m not anti-Australian in the slightest. I have Australian family and spent 7 months living in your wonderful and hospitable country.
As for lashing out because of our Ashes defeat, we’ve hardly mentioned Australia at all as we’ve always tend to focus on England (as you’ve pointed out in the past). What’s more, the focus of our discontent has obviously been the ECB (as, once again, you like to remind us almost daily) rather than harbouring any resentment against the Aussies. The only Aussie I can recall criticising before today is David Warner … and that’s hardly surprising because he winds people up around the entire world.
Maybe the difference between this and previous incidents is that the Australians have been caught red handed.
Its not clear to me that Sweets are somehow less bad than a piece of tape. Both are prohibited and Sweets are certainly known to work so that distinction is in your mind.
Of course Smith deserves utter condemnation. Its just a quesiton why the many other ball tamperers haven’t received the same sort of treatment in the past. Atherton remained captain, when what he did is not in anyway really any better. Faf has been caught twice once rubbing against the zipper where they had to change the ball (which didn’t happen in this case), and once with sweets. So it pays to have some perspective. It beggar belief that in other situations such as these that the senior leadership (which atherton was) or bowlers were unaware of what was occuring with their ball shiner. “Wow its amazing how good Faf’s trousers are at shining the ball, why can’t anyone else do the same?”
I’ll be astounded if Smith captains again and I think may serve a CA ban of some period in addition to what has been handed down by the ICC. I would certainly support that as would most in Australia. It was an extraordinary admission and event. Some perspective should be drawn though. He’s probably just the first to come clean about it while playing.
*** Sweets are used to sweeten saliva to help shine the ball. Shining the ball is perfectly legal. People have been chewing gum etc to sweeten their saliva for years and years.
This use of tape as a type of sandpaper is different because whereas shining the ball is legal, roughing it up / gouging it is most definitely not.
The use of bottle-tops or sandpaper is completely different to using shining aids that have been tolerated in the game for some time. What Du Plessis and Dravid did was push the shining aid thing a bit too far. What the Australians did, on the other hand, is just as bad as everything Pakistan were once accused of back in the 1990s. Nothing was proven against Pakistan though, whereas the Aussies have been caught red handed.
The other point here is the “conspiracy” issue. The “leadership group” (which apparently doesn’t include Lehmann!) persuaded a young player to do their dirty work for them.
Shining the ball with Saliva and cloth is allowed. Not all shining is permited. you can’t bring varnish onto the field or anything else that would shine up the ball including mints, its pretty clear in the law.
Roughing the ball up by bringing on the spinner (or seamer) to bowl cross seam once early swing vanishes is also allowed. So you are allowed to do things in game that rough the ball
Other forms of roughing arent’ and notably both teams in the ashes were warned against throwing it into the pitch from short range and roughing it up.
I’m sorry but its you making a false distinction. There are legitimate ways to achieve both ends and prohibited wasys. Sorry its totally clear in the rules whatever your pet interpretation may be.
We only know its a consipiracy because Smith told us. Do you seriously believe that the rest of the 05 Ashes team believed Trescothick has magically shiny spit or they were fine with him using mints? Really don’t be so naive.
Same could be said with SA.
As for the “Shining” claim are you really arguing that Faf using the zipper of his pants was shining? They had to replace the ball and game them a 5 run penalty it was so bad
I suppose atherton was shining the ball with dirt?.
I am happy that Cricket Australia is holding itself to a higher standard than the rest of the world but that is certainly what this is.
I have no time for cheats in sports. I have lost all respect for Steve Smith – arguably the best batsman in the world.
What in earth was he and his co-conspriators thinking? I would throw the book at them but the punishment must be determined by the cricket authorities and not the Aussie government. After all, sportsmen may occasionally cheat and lie but politicians do it all the time.
I wonder what cheater Atherton will have to say.
They were trying to gain an advantage by altering the state of the ball. It is against the rules.
Are we going to pretend it’s never been done by others without the same uproar?
No no no. Shining is allowed in specific circumstances, and so while Trescothick was doing something specifically illegal it was still just “shining” so doesn’t count. Remeber if you can say Faf was “just shining” with his zipper, and Atherton was “shining” with the dirt in his pocket with a straight face then we can make out that this was something totally different to what everyone else has ever done (except Pakistan).
There are some very fine distinctions being made about how some methods of altering the state of the ball are far, far worse than others. Some methods are against the rules but don’t result in a ban. Others are against the rules and should result in a 12-month ban. How does that work? Does it depend on the nationality of the perpetrator?
Meanwhile, according to James, this latest transgression is more like doping or spot-fixing than any of the previous incidents of players altering the state of the ball. Again, how does that work?
It’s irrational.
This certainly made my day – hilarious stuff. I would say kick them off the team but you can’t have double standards. I would say being on film kicking the shit out of some guy outside a nightclub in the early hours was on par with this but Ben Stokes is still playing. He might get off but the video doesn’t lie.
Maybe it is time to have a camera permanently on the ball to stop this stuff: especially when Australia are playing. The ICC could go back over past footage as this may have been going on for some time. Don’t forget Smith was also caught cheating in India. I would check up Starc’s trouser leg to see if he has spare doctored ball up there.
Remember they are playing a team lead by someone promoted to captain after twice being convicted ball tamperer, with a player who just got back onto the field by appealing his 9th demerit point. Personally I think that this has occurred due to them being in a losing position when they were totally bent out of shape about the unrepentant nature of SA about any bad behavior and in particular the Rabada decision.
Anyway I daresay they did less to the ball with that tape than Broad and Anderson did by rubbing the ball into ground, or Trescothick with his mints in 05.
The only curious thing about this incident really is the admission of guilt.
What is so curious about it? It was picked up by multiple cameras, is he really going to deny something that is blatantly obvious to anyone? The reason Australia is getting the stick is because of their ‘holier than thou’ attitude. Stop trying to find excuses for this behaviour.
Australia has a “holier than thou” attitude? I don’t think so.
No it’s curious because when Faf is shown using mints he denies it. When broads rubbing the ball into the ground with his foot it’s because he was hot. When Tendulkar digs his nails into the ball in view of cameras but out of sight of the umpires he’s just cleaning it.
Bancroft tampered no doubts. Smith’s admission though is unheard of and totally the opposite of basically every one else who has been similarly caught. He could have just let Bancroft take the fall and said I was wrong to tell him he needs to do better shining to get it to move. I was wrong to put that pressure on him.
What are you saying?
That others have illegally altered the state of the ball and didn’t receive lifetime bans?
How can that be?
Amazing isn’t it. Apparently if you deny everything despite the conviction you can even get made captain.
Look I think Smith should get demoted from Captain, and I am glad Australia has higher standards than the rest of the world but some context is needed around how other countries have reacted to the same.
James, I actually have no problem if the aussies want to be the pantomime villains of the sport. What grates me is their massive hypocrisy and entitlement. They constantly harp about heir mythical ‘line’ (which nobody else seems to know where it is). Warner is a pillock of the highest order, he sledges opponents constantly, and then acts all faux hurt when he gets it back. Smith & ‘dad of the year’ warner have already been removed from their postions, time to get rid off Lehmann as well, I refuse to believe that the ‘leadership team’ did all this without his knowledge.
As if England aren’t guilty of hypocrisy and entitlement.
I’m not English, so you’re wasting your time with that line. Besides, Bancroft & Smith have been let off lightly by the ICC, so Aussies can’t complain about the ICC being biased now.
Biased how?
I think they engineered an outcome to allow Rabada to play.
And people will be lining up to criticise the ICC for this sanction.
But no, I don’t think I’d ever claim the ICC has a particular anti-Australia bias.
Well plenty of aussie supporters have on other boards have accused the ICC of being too soft on other countries. Ball tampering is a far more serious offence than sledging anyway.
According to the ICC’s sanction, it’s not that serious. One-match ban for Smith and Bancroft is free to play.
I’m still not clear where the hypocrisy/entitlement lies.
If you want hypocrisy, how about players from other nations getting a pass but when it’s Australians they need to be publicly stoned?
Isn’t that hypocrisy?
I guess it will fall to Cricket Australia to punish their own players, essentially insisting upon a higher standard than the game’s governing body.
Given a pass? Wait, who was given a pass? And where am I advocating for the players to be humiliated? Faf was rounded booed and criticised in Australia for his antics, and rightly so. Why should the australiasn be spared the same treatment?
“We hold our heads high and I’d be very disappointed if one of our team members did that.
“The rules are in place for a reason. If you’re not going to use them why bother having them?
“If you’re going to overstep the mark, be prepared to get fined and miss Test matches.” David Warner (after Du Plessis got caught for “mintgate”). Hypocrisy and Entitlement, you say?
Isn’t Lehmann part of the “leadership team”? If not, why not?
Well Smith and Warner are gone and not likely either to be seen in a leadership position again. Its a complete disgrace and everyone involved will be suspended by cricket Aus if not the ICC.
The interesting question though with Australia be held more to account for coming clean about the cheating versus all the people who have done it and denied it vigorously but been convicted none the less. Australia’s approach will be to come down harshly against Smith. Other countries though just line up behind the captain.
Its worth noting that the opposition captain has twice been found guilty of ball tampering but remains captain none the less and unrepentant about the behavior. In most courts pleading not guilty and being convicted gets you a harsher punishment but I suspect that it will be the reverse case here.
The ICC thinks Smith deserves a one-match ban and Bancroft is free to play.
That’s the maximum punishment the ICC Code allows. The piece, by Brydon Coverdale, sets out his view of why CA should impose a longer punishment. http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/22916100/why-australia-outraged-steven-smith-team
Linking to someone else’s opinion isn’t actually an argument in its own right.
Since I didn’t think you would take much notice of what a Pom said, I thought an Aussie (and one held in high regard in the cricket world) might be more persuasive to you! Apparently not.
I don’t download my opinions from other people.
And he’s an awful writer without the balls or dexterity to skewer the double standards at play.
Public opinion is blowing a gale in one direction. He’s fallen in line.
Jason Gillespie to come in as the “nice guy to restore good will” coach?
Justin Langer more likely.
Can’t argue with that. James is spot on. Ever since Lehmann took over they have crossed the line in behaviour. Go back to the ostracism of Broad and the constant lies how he got out. It wasn’t a thick edge to second slip but a nick to the keeper who palmed it to the slips. But Boof still lies about it. Never mind the hypocrisy over ‘not walking’. England were a “bunch of nobodies”. Welcome to Australia. The incident of threatening to break Anderson’s arm. The “tough” reign of Lehmann began. Smith followed suit. That was the culture. Win at all costs. War to Warner. And all’s fair in war isn’t it? Never mind that cricket is a sport. Now can we believe they haven’t cheated before? Lying and cheating go together. The public want to believe that a victory is genuine. Otherwise the point of sport is lost. That’s the real casualty of this affair. The game has been brought into disrepute by the captain and his senior group whoever they are. The action was premeditated. Not tactics or strategy under discussion but a clear decision to cheat by tampering with the ball. This has happened before. The cover up begins?
Most of what you’ve described is perfectly fair.
One-match ban for Smith. Bancroft is free to play.
That’s how seriously the ICC views their transgression.
That’s th maximum punishment the transgression allows. They have to go by their own laws and regulations, they can’t make it up on the spot.
Yeah, that’s my point.
That’s how seriously the ICC views their transgression.
Yes but it suggests that, unlike many cricket fans, the ICC don’t consider ball tampering to be that big a deal.
So who should decide the sanction?
If the ICC says it’s not a big deal, then why is it?
Cricket Australia should decide it. And people such as Jim Maxwell Dan Brettig and Malcolm Turnbull are appalled by what happened.
They can be appalled – although it’s a bit rich to have politicians intervening. That is nothing but opportunism. Turnbull should be focused on more pressing concerns.
Precedent still applies.
I am also appalled and think Smith and Warne should be demoted and have a serious ban (ie at least 6 months) placed on them along with Bancroft.
I am also appalled by the fact that no other board has ever acted seriously against their players cheating for ball tampering but rather backed them for it, or in Englands case gave them a mild slap on the wrist. Hell we’ve had teams refuse to take the field, or refuse the match referee when they have been accused.
Not to mention teams who have got away with it.
To quote Trescothick
“”I was firmly established as the man in charge of looking after the ball when we were fielding,” he wrote in an excerpt which appeared in Britain’s News of the World newspaper.
“It was my job to keep the shine on the new ball for as long as possible with a bit of spit and a lot of polish.
“And through trial and error I finally settled on type of spit for the task at hand.
“It had been common knowledge in county cricket for some time that certain sweets produced saliva which, when applied to the ball for cleaning purposes, enabled it to keep its shine for longer and therefore its swing.'”
Oh goodie, a pious statement from Dave Richardson! Can we have fines, demerit points and yellow/red cards for administrators?
How anyone can be more worked up about this than the ten-team WC escapes me…. (Richardson isn’t the prime mover in that but he’s been a useful stooge for Clarke).
Suffice to say, there are a lot of axes to grind.
Warner runs out Bancroft by over a yard…..
This Test match just keeps on giving!
More entertaining than the one in Auckland?
Oh yes most definitely. Besides, the NZ games is way to early to get up for.
Watching England away isn’t entertaining. Unless you find “blooper” comedy amusing.
Don’t English fans just live vicariously through whichever team is playing Australia?
Not the first time Warner sold Bancroft down the river in this test.
Punishment for getting caught??
I’m angry. Derisory punishment handed out by the ICC. Perhaps Cricket Australia will come up with additional penalties which really hurt everyone involved in this abysmal episode. At least it looks as if it will not be necessary to make Australia forfeit the game. (Now confirmed – 5 fer for Morne).
I’m angry because cricket authorities keep talking about wanting to attract more people into watching and playing the game and yet these same weak-chinned authorities are seemingly incapable of punishing cheats and vicious thugs.
After following cricket for > 65 years I’m getting heartedly sick of the game and all who abuse it.
Smith said that the “leadership group” had decided to cheat. Anyone think this doesn’t include Lehmann and Cooley?
The way Smith and Warner set up Bancroft reminds me of what Butt and Asif did to Amir.
I can’t see Smith or Warner captaining Australia again. They should probably get 1 year bans from all cricket.
What is the rationale for a one-year ban? Have you just pulled that out of thin air?
Analogy with drug taking which is a different form of cheating. The intention is to hit the perpetrators in the pocket.
You are comparing this to taking performance-enhancing drugs?
That’s a bit extreme.
But if that’s your analogy, why wasn’t Du Plessis banned on the two occasions he altered the state of the ball?
The Saffas did nothing and he’s still captain.
So Australia have to impose a tougher standard than other national boards and the governing body? How does this square with the widely held notion that Australian cricket operates according to lower standards? It seems like the opposite.
For the record, I’m not saying it’s impossible.
But is there any precedent for other players who altered the state of the ball?
I’m slightly surprised that this match was considered so vital that Aus went to such lengths. A lost test match is hardly the end of the world
Its almost certain that they were infuriated about the ICC letting Rabada off that they decided to do this. Stupid in extreme of course but it relates to why they were so desparate to win.
Now that the ICC have officially convicted these tos*ers of being cheats then it makes you think what they are going to be able to do after their life in cricket. Obviously Warner will do well in politics, Smith will be offered a job at Cambridge Analytica and Bancroft will get a job as a carpenter. Speaking of carpentry, I have some sanding to do. Does anybody know what the official sandpaper brand of the Australian test cricket team is and will it be available from the Cricket Australia web shop ?
I just checked in my copy of the English to Australian dictionary and the word “Cheat” does indeed translate to “Steve Smith” !.
So what does James Sutherland do now ? Keep playing Smith and Warner and handout the sandpaper to all Sheffield Shield teams so they can practise with it in case any of the players get selected in the future or does he ban the f*ckers !
Tom’s back! Hurrah! I’ve so missed my daily serving of tripe.
Smith should lose the captaincy for being so thick, if nothing else. Storm in a teacup though. Everyone does it, surely? – just not in such a dense way. Totally amateur effort, should’ve spoken to Imran first…
Everyone does it.. that’s alright then..
Just like the sledging argument…
Unless something is done this stuff will just continue and the game will keep falling away.. deny it if you want but th game is dying. People are playing less and a reason cited is behaviour .. umpires are quitting due to.. yep.. behaviour
Then we see pros and fans defend them saying ‘everyone does it’
I don’t notice NZ sledging ?? And I’m sure Williamson is as competitive as any other player
Its not alright but the next time it occurs and it will will the reaction be so negative? Both teams were warned in the Ashes for throwing the ball into the pitch. So its clear that teams are actively looking for ways to alter the ball and will push “the line”.
Its clear that the ICC needs much harsher punishments for this – ie automatic forfeit of game and a long ban for any player involved. Also some very very clear guidelines about what is acceptable. Can’t have people like James here saying yeah but sweets are only sort of cheating. Why? Why is altering the ball illegally one way not that bad, but another way terrible both achieve the same end and both are are illegal.
No it’s not alright, which is why it is specifically covered in the laws of the game – Law 41.3. The penalty for being caught is defined in 41.3.4.2. It is just 5 runs – that tells you something about the degree of seriousness associated with this offence and the over-reaction to the Aussie case.
Personally I think the penalty should be more severe, especially in the case of someone bringing something external onto the field as the Aussies did, but that’s another matter. This isn’t match-fixing.
People are over-reacting because the Australian team is despised – even by a section of the Australian public.
But you can’t dish out an inordinately more severe penalty just because you don’t like them. Go back and look at the Du Plessis cases – in the aftermath, Matt Prior tweeted that the sanction was over-the-top because “every team does it”. But now it’s the Australians in the dock and people want their pound of flesh. I understand the dislike for the Australians. But that can’t be the basis for governance and decision-making.
Look at James in this thread, suggesting it’s on par with taking performance-enhancing drugs. Surely the more relevant precedent is the other cases of players altering the state of the ball. Surely the more relevant precedent is players committing the same transgression, not an entirely different one.
But no, because it’s the Australians, it has to be on an entirely different scale, on par with doping. That’s nonsense. I get it, plenty of people see this as the chance to score some points. But it’s still irrational.
You have a point. There’s been a veritable army of Indian trolls (sadly the sheer number of Indian fans on the planet means they’re very well represented amongst the cricket troll community) who’ve been having a field day in various corners of the internet.
Part of it goes back to envy of Australia’s past success. Part of it is pleasure at seeing a team that won playing hard but fair (underarm balls excepted ;) ) show another side. And part of it comes from recent events – a team known for harsh sledging, and a country known for crowds directing abuse at opposition players getting upset at sledging & crowd abuse rings a little hypocritical (even though the SA actins were wrong too).
And some is simply the modern game of piling into every minor incident and making a mountain out of it , coupled with the vastly increased scrutiny in the modern 24 hour media cycle – NZ and (probably) Pakistan got away with the same thing in 1990, in part due to the lack of cameras, and umpires not wanting to a scene.*
The reaction in Australia comes back more to the perception of themselves (and us Kiwis have similar attitudes) of trying their damnedest to win, without breaking the rules. Australia has been prominent in the efforts to clean up bowling actions and fight match fixing (Shane Warne’s minor dalliances with drugs and bookies cost him any chance at the Aussie captaincy for instance), meaning the public expect more from the team
*Granted NZ’s punishment was Chris Pringle’s p-performance with a tampered ball keeping him in the test team for a couple of years. And he was awful.
What should have happened to Du Plessis, who has twice been caught altering the state of the ball?
I expect Smith will lose the captaincy and a ban may well be in the offing.
But there is also a double standard at play.
The people complaining on various threads that the ICC sanction is inadequate when it is the maximum permitted under the ICC’s rules are laughable. Presumably they’d be happy for their own transgressions (not that they have any) to have their punishments increased from community service to life imprisonment because some people are outraged on Twitter? Whether the ICC’s rules are correct and what CA may sanction are different matters.
Also, some are arguing that the pre-planning makes it particularly egregious. What ball-tampering isn’t to some degree pre-planned? Players who engage in it must know what their bowlers want and what they don’t.
SA were winning this match without what happened – after all, it was why it happened. Morkel and Rabada were outstanding with the ball and Elgar’s century was 56 more than the next highest score (Markram, who looks a real player). Only Cummins came out with much credit for Australia and the decline in Starc has been especially noticable (is he injured?) along with the continuing fragility in the Australian batting.
There’s a difference here between the ICC and CA. The ICC governs the game overall, and has a rulebook and regulations set down for punishment. They have to work within that, and in that context the punishments meted out to Smith and Bancroft are “proportionate” (whether any of us agree or not).
CA is a different matter. They are the players’ employers. The players have contracts and presumably a Code of Conduct with a process to deal with transgressions. CA can issue any sanction they wish over and above the ICC punishments.
Frankly, based on media coverage and social media I have been astonished at the strength of feeling from the Aussie “man in the street”, regardless of what public figures such as the PM may say. There seems to be a “final straw” factor with a lot of distaste for the team’s general behaviour over a period of time being uncorked.
Given all that, I would be surprised if Smith and Warner aren’t stripped of their positions and banned for 6 months minimum, with Lehmann losing his job – he doesn’t have long on his contract anyway.
Yes the people are outraged. As a previous PM said Australian Cricket Captain is the second most important job in the country and Smith has totally disgraced himself and the job. While you all might regard Australia as cheats for whatever reason, Australians believe they are cleaner than most other teams and with some justification- this is the first time Australia has been changed with ball tampering unlike (SA, India, England, Pakistan). Everyone knows the team is a bit obnoxious and don’t love it but accept that Australia is generally perceived that way by the English as “rough colonials”.
This however is in a different league and the reaction is extreme. I wouldn’t mind betting that they will remove Warner and Smith and Maybe Bancroft from all the tours in our winter and they may be back in November next year..
I suspect the Aussie PM is loving this – a nice wee distraction from his own problems!
Following on from Jame’s last story on the Eng/NZ game, it is better to laugh otherwise you might cry, and not wanting to poke fun at a fellow Tasmanian, I have a question; Q.who is the most recent Australian One Day captain..A. Tim Paine – he was captain for one day !!! As an Aussie I think Smith and Warner must go, one match suspension is not enough nor the loss of match fees, for some of these guys it is pocket money. My outside bet for the captaincy is George Bailey – very experienced captain, scoring nicely at the moment, and I believe he plays the game fair and square. Selectors plucked Tim Paine from the wilderness, why not another Tassie player in George. …Don’t forget this sort of thing has happened to other skippers, think Mike Atherton & Hansie Cronje, so other countries having a go at Oz are not exactly squeaky clean.
Was this all just one big stunt from Cricket Australia to land a major sponsorship deal from an Australian sandpaper manufacturer ?
I did like the young SA kid who asked Nathan Lyon to autograph a piece of sandpaper!
There are so many facets to this story it is hard to know where to begin. Personally, I find the ball tampering in itself almost the least of the issues at hand; there are very few professional teams over many years who can afford to be sanctimonious about it. Weak enforcement of the rules & inadequate sanction when they are enforced have contributed to it being an unseemly but ubiquitous facet of the game.
Much more concerning to me are the following points;
1. The culture of the Australian team, Everybody knows this is a team of bullies & boors weakly led by an inadequate captain who has been incapable of controlling the abysmal behaviour of certain individuals. To it’s shame, world cricket has turned a blind eye to this.
2. The “Leadership group’s” craven behaviour in saddling the most junior member of the team with the cheating duties, then hiding behind Smith when the truth was out. That it is not to excuse Bancroft, whose stupidity deserves punishment as much as his dishonesty. If I were a Committee member at Taunton I might be asking myself this morning whether a liar & a cheat was the type of overseas player to enhance my club’s credentials.
3. I find it surprising that there appears to be very little focus on the fact that both Smith & Bancroft openly lied to & attempted to deceive the umpires on the field. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the moment in which Bancroft is asked to empy his pockets & then shows the officials his sun glass cleaning cloth, has to be amongst the single most dishonest things ever done on an international cricket pitch.
You never saw England in Pakistan in the 1980s then…
Actually I did & if you are comparing this to Gatting’s contretemps with Shakoor Rana, I wonder whether you did.
No, I’m thinking of some of the LBWs by corrupt umpires…
Although this would be my Exhibit A, from Pakistan’s tour of England in 1987:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMH2sU6ET1w
Just outrageous.
So where’s Lehmann ? He still seems to be in hiding. This doesn’t seem to match with the brash bullying behaviour he encourages in his team. Is he going to let Smith take the fall. It’s a bit cowardly and not very Australian is it. Maybe his contract doesn’t mention anything about what his responsibilities are. The truth will out eventually and it will turn out that he has relatives in the sandpaper business.
Given that Bancroft stuffed the offending material down his trousers then maybe now is the time to introduce compulsory strip searches for Australian players before they take the field to search for sandpaper in various orifices and crevices !
Any idea of the reception Smith is going to get from Indian crowds now that he has finally been found out as being a cheat. Are the IPL crowds hostile ? Which IPL team would want a verified cheat on their team ?
Talking of leadership groups then isn’t the head of Cricket Australia the leader ? Would James Sutherland now be signing a sandpaper sponsorship deal now as we speak if the team hadn’t been found out ?
There’s a few Australians coming over to play county cricket this year. I think somebody should be looking to check their pockets before they go out to field.
I wonder what that great cheat WG Grace has to say about all this? Amateurs in a professional sport probably.
This incident, whilst sad, could not come at a better time.
We can now clear out all the shite from within the Australian camp and get on playing good cricket. The ball tampering is minor, it’s all the other crap that is the problem.
I suspect James Sutherland will keep his job, providing his feedback to Turnbull and subsequent actions pleases the PM.
Lehman will go, Bancroft’s mate Justin Langer will coach the side, possibly even Ricky Ponting, but Langer the most likely.
Smith and Warner will lose their jobs but remain within the team. Starc and Twat Lyon on a written warning with Tim Paine the likely captain and M Marsh as vice.
Rumour has Starc & Hazlewood are fuming at Smith because they didn’t know & feel he’s dropped them in it
From the bits and pieces filtering out, it sounds like Warner will be the player to carry the can.
Motormouth Vaughan has now chipped in with his threepenny worth, claiming that tampering took place during the Ashes. So I’ll drop out because that sanctimonious tool gets me REALLY angry.
Correct me if any of this is wrong…
Mike Atherton (1994) guilty of ball tampering
fined $3700
Shahid Afridi (2010) guilty of ball tampering
suspended for two T20s
Faf Du Plessis (2013) guilty of ball tampering
fined 50% of match fee
Vernon Philander (2014) guilty of ball tampering
fined 75% of match fee
Faf Du Plessis (2016) guilty of ball tampering
3 demerit points
Now some Australians get busted in 2018 and those involved should get lengthy bans because it’s as bad as doping and match-fixing? History suggests otherwise.
In fairness, 3 demerit points for Bancroft (and 1 match for Smith for telling Bancroft to do it) as imposed by the ICC isn’t far off those you list.
Anything added by Cricket Australia is their affair. Some of the stories coming out in Aus are suggesting that the rest of the team want Warner gone so I’m guessing CA action will be more aimed at getting the team back on track rather than specifically punishing the tampering
Yes, any subsequent punishment is up to CA. But why didn’t any other boards impose a subsequent punishment on their players?
Everyone is counting on CA to ban Warner and Smith. But why didn’t the South African board ban Du Plessis? I don’t recall anyone calling for life bans in 2016. Matt Prior tweeted that “every team does it”. But now Australians have been busted and it becomes a hanging offence. Fancy that.
Is CA obligated to punish its players more than those other boards were obligated to punish theirs? If so, that is an obvious double standard.
Clearly there are a variety of factors in play. The backlash in Australia has been ferocious – CA will feel immense pressure to appease that. And clearly Warner isn’t the most popular man in the corridors of power. The end result will likely be down to a combination of these issues.
However, there is clearly a double standard when people call for life bans or demand this affair be punished as though it were doping or match-fixing. Like James, for example. The precedent simply doesn’t support such a severe punishment. Historically, ball tampering has prompted a slap on the wrist. So why are people demanding that CA take a harder line than any other national board (the Saffas, for example) or the ICC itself?
I don’t imagine there will be many tears shed for Warner. But the double standard is plain to see.
really bad this whole incident!