The ball tampering saga

[K]

[Lazza]

[K]

Big hit: Watson set to become president of cricket players' union

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/bi ... 52wiu.html

[K]

Cummins one of three new faces set to join ACA board

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/cu ... 52zqv.html

[K]

...
Smith said he had been so tired after his record-breaking Ashes tour this year that he had not picked up a bat for a fortnight before resuming with the Blues this week. He spends so much time honing his unique technique that there will be a major debate by selectors and the CA board as to whether it would be best for him to just concentrate on his batting for the rest of his career but continue to have an unofficial leadership role.

Coach-selector Justin Langer said on Saturday there was much to consider.

"We will have to work out what's best. I mean, he saw how exhausted he was from the effort he puts into his batting. Whether he wants the burden of captaincy as well, that'll have to be something we work out over time and timing's an amazing thing as well,' he said on ABC Grandstand.
...

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket ... 52zze.html

[K]

If you think Smith can't lead Australia again, we've got news for you

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket ... 531r6.html

Steve Smith will captain Australia again. Maybe as soon as March. And so he should. People need to get over it.

... But you don't get life for murder, so there's no way Smith should be banned for life from captaining Australia.
...

And in Australian cricket you need look no further than Greg Chappell for an example. After the infamous underarm incident in 1981, Chappell had a further 38 years in the game at the highest levels.
...

There is only one thing that may get in Smith's way: Pat Cummins. Don't underestimate how much Cricket Australia loves him.

He's the clean skin; the fresh-faced boy next door everybody loves, with an infectious smile and a will to win, who bowls all day. What more could you want?

Cummins has one thing going against him though: he's a fast bowler.
...

[Comment: who cares that Cummin's a bowler? He can captain by 11-man vote for all I care. Apart from the ball tampering, the odd thing about the Smith push is there's no evidence I'm aware of that Smith is a good captain. e.g. Back when everyone was praising him, he still threw Maxwell under the bus.]

[Pies4shaw]

Best batsman in world cricket since Sir IVAR. Of course he'll captain Australia again.

[K]

There's no link between batting skill and captaincy. And Smith's not even in the best three Oz batsmen (let alone the entire world's) from Viv's time on. He's good on flat tracks only, where his single-mindedness lets him bat on and on, a bit like another limited batsman, S. Waugh. (That's a different topic, though, so I'll leave it for other threads.)

On captaincy, the question is: do you think Heater would have made a good Collingwood captain? Because Smith is less capable as Test captain than Heater hypothetically would be as Collingwood captain. I talk about Heater here because his brain is unusually wired in a very similar way to Smith's (though he displays more humour than Smith ever has).

[K]

[K]

Ban or not, David Warner a T20 leader for Australia

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id ... -australia

Whatever the letter of David Warner's lifetime ban from leadership positions in Australian cricket, he was never going to be left out of the team's tactical thinking.

Apart from the fact it is nigh on impossible to picture Warner sitting quietly in the corner minding his own business while the national team's campaign for next year's T20 World Cup is constructed, he is one of the squad's most agile minds in the shortest format. After all, only one current Australian cricketer can boast of captaining a winning IPL team, and that is Warner with Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016. His thoughts on Australia's build up are many.

To that end Warner has taken a central role in discussing the many and varied permutations for the team led by captain Aaron Finch and coach Justin Langer. As one of several members of the team to play all three formats consistently, he has ample opportunities to do so.
...

Warner, it is clear, is not permitted to captain Australia again. But that edict does not preclude him from the ability to lead.

[K]

Tim Paine deserves more respect in captaincy debate, says Steve Waugh

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/tim-pai ... 536sl.html

...
... the summer has started with discussions about whether the superstar batsman should be immediately returned to the post and Paine displaced.

That suggestion has been backed by a number of voices in the sport, including Steve's brother Mark...

Allan Border is among those who don't feel that is the right course to chart and Steve Waugh has his foot firmly in that camp...
...

[K]

Ex-cricket executive lands North CEO job

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/afl/ex-cri ... 5387l.html

...
Amarfio has won the position and is expected to begin at the helm of the Kangaroos in the coming weeks. He replaces Carl Dilena, who was a victim of the sweeping changes by chairman Ben Buckley's board that have seen the CEO, head of football and senior coach replaced within a matter of months, with the Kangaroos also seeking a new list manager.
...

Look at these posts for the background on Amarfio:

http://magpies.net/nick/bb/viewtopic.ph ... 23#1880023

http://magpies.net/nick/bb/viewtopic.ph ... 30#1880030


[Comment: No matter how much they destroy an organization, no matter how much disgrace trails them when they leave, these sports admin folks always end up in new high-paying sports admin jobs. It looks like they form some sort of mafia that just sucks sport dry. It's a disgrace.]

[K]

[K]

Nicholas Pooran banned for four T20Is for ball-tampering

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id ... -tampering

...
Pooran admitted the charge, which deals with a breach of level 3 of the ICC's Code of Conduct, and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Chris Broad. He had violated Article 2.14 of the code, which relates to "changing the condition of the ball" after video footage showed him scratching the surface of the ball with his thumbnail.
...

The charge was levelled by on-field umpires Bismillah Shinwari and Ahmed Durrani and third umpire Ahmed Pakteen as well as fourth umpire Izatullah Safi.
...

[Pies4shaw]

The way the cricket world carried on about Smith and Warner, you’d have to be a little surprised this was a mere 4-match ban. Mind you, he might have preferred the ban to keep him out of a few more T20 internationals. His ESAQIPC score is only about 142.