A good lesson for budding sportspersons all around

The tearful press conferences of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft after returning home from South Africa were distressing to watch for any sports lover. World- class athletes are usually the pride and joy of the sport, team and country. Their status should be that of heroes, not villains.

In the trauma and disgrace of these three, however, there is a strong lesson for everyone, especially budding sportspersons all over the world: that while winning is important, it is not everything, and the costs of destabilising this equation can be incalculable.

There has, of course, been furious debate whether Cricket Australia has not been too harsh in its punishment to the three players. Going by the ICC’s Code Of Conduct, it would certainly seem so, and has evoked both wide consternation and sympathy, especially within the cricketing fraternity itself.

The ban period ( one year for Smith and Warner, nine months for Bancroft) is unprecedented for an offence that is commonplace, and has actually percolated down to the lowest levels at which cricket is played.

“What have they done which every player doesn’t try?” seems to be the refrain among players, past and present. But Cricket Australia’s position is that the punishment was not so much for ball tampering as bringing the country into disrepute.

The methods deployed to scuff the ball may not have been unusual, but the attempt to hide the guilt, as video evidence showed, was diabolical. And the excuses that followed immediately after showed insidious intent.

Moreover, the fact that the captain and vice captain