CRICKET’S DAY OF RECKONING

SCATHING REVIEW LASHES ‘ ARROGANT’ CRICKETERS

AUSTRALIA cricketers were lost in their own self- importance amid a culture of arrogance and bullying that filtered down from the top of the administration, a damning report has found.

The stench around the national team that has existed since the ball- tampering scandal in South Africa in March was laid bare yesterday in the 145- page Longstaff review, which was scathing in its appraisal of the state of the game at the highest level.

It said a culture permeated to a playing group where normal standards of decency didn’t apply.

Cricket Australia chairman David Peever called the review “confronting” and Test captain Tim Paine conceded players were caught up in what the review labelled a “gilded bubble”.

The report found that within the upper echelons of the sport, verbal abuse, so often referred to as sledging on the field, had become “normalised” and both players and management had “lost the human touch”.

Examples of players bullying CA staff were cited and it concluded that the relentless search for success had resulted in cricket “stumbling badly” and Australians felt a “personal sense of shame and grief” at what had been done in their name.

The review tabled 42 recommendations for change and separate to that Paine declared the players, accused of being unaware of the damning external judgment of their approach and actions, knew they had to be better.

“Potentially for a little bit we got wrapped up in our own self- importance. It’s not our cricket team, it’s Australia’s cricket team, and for a little while we lost that,” Paine said.

“It’s about getting outside of our bubble … to think more of others.”

Peever, who refused to stand down, apologised for the part CA management played in creating an environment which was not win- at- allcosts, but winning regardless of the cost.

The review found a “web of influences” below the surface of the team was as problematic as the decision made by banned trio Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft to take a piece of sandpaper on the field in Cape Town.

THE Ethics Centre, which conducted the review, surveyed 469 people, including current and former players, as well as CA staff, and completed a further 56 interviews, believed to include suspended duo Smith and Warner.

Of the 48 current players sent the survey, only 14 completed it and only three of nine former players did so.

But 220 CA staff members did take part and senior management were accused of being blinded by financial goals, disrespectful to the game, arrogant in dealing with stakeholders and of “losing the human touch”.

The report is littered with references to the overt presence of “shadow values” or underlying cultural behaviours by players and staff, including: Only results matter; Australia needs us to win; the nation’s wellbeing is on our shoulders;

Combativeness and aggression are good; Unleash the beast; and Keep your head down, don’t challenge or let yourself be challenged.

A culture of not speaking out played a key role in the ball- tampering incident, with senior players accused of failing to take responsibility for taking teammates to task.