Cheating scandal dark day for nation, not just sport

I WRITE not about cricket as sport; I write about cricket as a microcosm of Australian culture, of “Australian values”.

Tampering is tampering; cheating is cheating.

So far, leadership is non-existent; Aussie cricketers demonstrated dishonesty, disreputability, dishonour. No integrity, honour, or humility.

Captain Steve Smith must be stood-down and penalised ... immediately; he abdicated leadership and honour. One-Test suspension? Bah!

Player Cameron Bancroft must also be stood-down and penalised; he committed a crime against cricket rules. “I was obviously nervous about it because with hundreds of cameras around that’s always the risk, isn’t it?”

Nervous about being caught – by “hundreds of cameras,” not about violating rules, cheating, dishonouring cricket and Australia.

“It’s (just) not cricket” (oldfashioned, British English, informal): “Having something unjust or wrong done to someone or something. From the game of cricket, regarded as a gentleman’s game where fair play is paramount.” [Urban Dictionary]

The ball-taping and follow-on demonstrate how UN gentlemanly cricket has become, how far cricket values have plummeted in the face of big money and must-win politics.

What the offenders, those inthe-know, and Cricket Australia do now will become the most precise, visible statement of Australian values. What set of values do we want our children to learn?