The ball tampering saga

[Johnno75]

[K]

Bancroft seemed highly emotional in his press conference a short while ago.
Smith's press conference is imminent...

... and has just been conducted, ending around 7.50pm. Smith broke down completely. It was painful to watch.

I can understand fears for his health. Speaking of which, I see Mark Butcher has given a thoughtful opinion that he was guilty, he deserved some punishment, but enough is enough. One can speculate that maybe Butcher's battles with depression and alcohol problems have left him more compassionate and more balanced than many of his peers.

[Doc63]

Bancroft seemed highly emotional in his press conference a short while ago.
Smith's press conference is imminent...

... and has just been conducted, ending around 7.50pm. Smith broke down completely. It was painful to watch.

I can understand fears for his health.

I just watched Smith's press conference. It was gut wrenching to watch.

This is going to take a massive toll on him.

Every professional sports person in the country should watch it.

[Dave The Man]

He Can only Blame Himself as he could of Stopped by Telling Warner and Bancroft it was a Stupid Idea and NOT to do it

[Dave The Man]

Think we seen the last of Warner in the Baggy Green as sounds like he was the Pretty Much the one Behind this Cheating and Teammates looks like they don't like him. So I can't see him back anytime soon

[think positive]

ive been a loud critic of the Aussie cricket team for, well, ever.

i just watched both of the press conferences in full. They both had me tearful. Smith especially. they get it. enough. If hird the cheating turd could admit, apologize, show something, he wouldnt be so widely hated and condemned.

i wish both these young men well. cheers

[Donny]

Re. The Culture.

AB, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting. Not sure about Taylor.

That's where to start looking, folks.

[K]

Can anyone confirm what happened immediately after the incident? I see it claimed that the umpires looked at the ball but did not replace it (which would indicate that they did not think its state had been altered, i.e. the attempt simply failed). Is that correct?

[swoop42]

From the Prime Minister down the hysteria over this is something else.

It was an act of cheating in a game of sport and an act of ball tampering that players have been found guilty of in the past and received minor punishment for.

The punishment that has been handed down is over the top and it isn't only because of the stupidly obvious nature of it.

The punishment was handed down because the act was akin to killing Bambi such is the mythicism surrounding the wearing of the baggy green cap and the shock caused that an Australian test cricket team would be prepared to cheat in an effort to win.

Fair to say the Australian public has finally had it's innocence taken from it when it comes to our participation in sport and the cricket players involved are paying the added cost of it.

[ANNODAM]

Privileged males doing what they've always done - rorting the system.

[swoop42]

Darren Lehmann to step down as coach now also.

[ronrat]

Are the wholier than thou bozos at Sanitarium going to pay taxes. No. Is Magellan Finances and Commonwealth Bank going to reveal all the Australian customers they cheated over the years. No. A shirt compamy maybe but where are these garment made. Hopefully not a Cambodian sweatshop where women work 12 hours a day for about 5 dollars US a week.

I understand it is a branding issues but none of these actions in South Africa put people on the street and in the case of sanitarium foisting upon the people the greatest fraud in history, religion.

[Donny]

Smith's tears force Lehmann to step down as Australia coach.

Here: http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/ ... alia-coach

[Mugwump]

ive been a loud critic of the Aussie cricket team for, well, ever.

i just watched both of the press conferences in full. They both had me tearful. Smith especially. they get it. enough. If hird the cheating turd could admit, apologize, show something, he wouldnt be so widely hated and condemned.

i wish both these young men well. cheers

Yes, agree. Based on the evidence, Warner should not play for Australia again. Lehmann has rightfully resigned as he is responsible for the culture.

Bancroft and Smith were guilty of moments of weakness. The premeditated and outlandish nature of it (sandpaper is not a sweet, FFS) is what makes it grievous and justifies the penalty. Smith's conference was hard to watch but it will go a long way to rehabilitate him in everyone's eyes. That was not the speech or conduct of a convicted cheat. It was the hurt of a man who is bewildered and broken by what he has found out about himself. Out of such knowledge will normally come wisdom and betterment.

[K]

... The premeditated and outlandish nature of it (sandpaper is not a sweet, FFS) is what makes it grievous and justifies the penalty. ...

The only past incident of ball tampering that I'm confident was not premeditated was Shahid Afridi's biting more or less in front of the umpires. What it lacked in premeditation, it certainly made up for in outlandishness, so much so that it has a certain humour to it.

Some of the unpunished (and actually rewarded) ball tampering seems extremely premeditated...

Hmmm... Let me switch topic for the moment... Well, sort of... (Prompted by a Kiwi's comment) I've just found the details of NZ ball tampering in 1990 so extreme that one of them sliced his finger open in the process. I somehow was not aware of this incident previously (or perhaps I was fleetingly aware and then forgot about it); I think it's probably a case of out of camera view, out of mind. [I'll provide more details in another comment.] I never thought these mediocre cricketers' autobiographies had any value (and some of them desperately need more talented ghostwriters), but I now see that they can be tremendously valuable.