Cricket rocked by yet another big ‘scandal’

CRICKET needs a win right now.

With the wounds of Australia’s ball tampering incident still fresh, the game has been rocked with another “scandal”.

Earlier this week, the Somerset Cricket League handed down a nine-game ban to a bowler who intentionally bowled a no-ball to end a match.

Sounds a bit heavy handed doesn’t it – after all plenty of players have done similar or worse and copped less.

But what makes the penalty all the more crazy is when you consider the borderline childish and petty reasoning behind the bowler’s decision to literally throw away the game.

With his team Purnells CC two runs away from defeat, the unnamed bowler deliberately threw the ball to the boundary, handing the Minehead 2nd XI victory.

And in doing so he denied Minehead batsman Jay Darrell who was on 98 the opportunity to score a maiden century.

Now you see why I described it as childish and petty.

The bowler in question was banned after the SCL said the incident “brought the SCL and cricket in general into disrepute” and “was against the spirit of the game”.

It’s a ridiculous thing to be banned for and if I were a Purnells player I’d be disappointed in my team-mate but not so much for the no-ball.

I’d be more upset by the bowler’s decision to not back himself.

Take the ball, rattle the batsman’s cage and see what happens.

If you take the wicket you’re a rockstar and all the pressure is back on them.

But if he tucks it away and wins the game so be it – no harm, no foul.

A batsman gets to celebrate his maiden century, a team celebrates a fitting victory and everyone involved gets to walk away relatively happy – even the team that lost.

Either way the bowler doesn’t walk away looking like a twit.