Him and Broad would miss more games than they play if you started doing that.
Exactly, I mean it's not even up for debate, he clearly cheated.
I'm pretty certain that there is a precedent for this, probably involving some sort of ban. I'll see if i can track it down on the internet.
Whilst i agree, it does raise the perennial question of what is, and isn't, 'cheating' in cricket. It's pretty well established (certainly at international level - less so perhaps at club level especially without neutral umpires) that batsmen are under no obligation to walk if they have edged the ball.
I think there is indeed a thing like accidental cheating. A wish can simply, and possibly immediately, grow into a firm believe. I've turned down so many LBW calls, being 100% sure it would bounce over, while the (body) language of the bowler really suggested an honoust believe it was 100% sure hitting.....
Yeah, there's always a grey area when you're talking about things that fall under the ICC Code of Conduct - "conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game". For me the difference between the Ramdin incident and the other things you mention is there was a 100% certainty that Ramdin knew he hadn't taken the catch.
I think this is quite important actually. I'm not so sure about accidental cheating, but I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't really trying to cheat. When the umpires given it and your team mates are running to you with joy on their faces it must be quite hard to tell them all you dropped it. I mean, even if he's not the brightest it would be something else to just pick the ball up off the ground thinking he would get away with it, and for that reason I think it may be more complicated than it appears.
However i think he was very badly advised (if he was advised) to plead "not guilty". Especially considering the precedent of Jacobs which i cited above. Reckon if he had said "guilty" along with something in line with the above he may have been treated more leniently.
