Players not global saints of sport
Ashocking affront to Australia — that was how the country’s prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, described the news that the national cricket team had been caught cheating.
The wearers of the baggy green might have been seen as paragons of sportsmanship in Australia. But the team’s reputation was already fairly tarnished in the rest of the world. Australian fast bowlers set out to intimidate and the team has been seen to applaud when rival batsmen are hit on the body. Australian cricketers are known for “sledging” — otherwise known as abusing the opposition, in the hope of putting them off their game. This practice crossed the line from banter into bullying a long time ago. So it was good that Turnbull included a condemnation of sledging in his call for Australian cricket to clean up its act.
At the same time, it is important to retain a bit of perspective. A far bigger menace to the integrity of cricket than ball-tampering is the threat that bookmakers will bribe players to throw games, or otherwise alter the direction of play.
“Ball tampering” is also hardly a new practice in cricket. Players have been caught using sand, trouser zips, finger nails or even teeth to scuff the ball’s surface. The England cricket captain, Mike Atherton, was fined for ball-tampering in 1994, and the same fate has befallen the current South African captain, Faf du Plessis. Both men were able to continue their careers unhindered — and the same should be true for Australia’s Steve Smith, even if it seems inevitable that he will lose the Australian captaincy.
But once Smith has stepped down, Australia should get a grip (preferably by fair means). The Australian national cricket team was never the object of global reverence that its fondest supporters imagined. Nor is it now a symbol of national disgrace. If the team can lose with grace, as well as win with style, it will be even more respected around the world. It is time to remember an unfashionable phrase. Cricket is “only a game”. London, March 28