Baggy Green ball tampering: Bancroft, Smith and the Aussie "Leadership Group"

[vandem]

...Having sat through countless presentations on the video screen at the test match at the MCG of Smith and the other senior Australian players telling us of all the types of behaviour that will not be tolerated by Cricket Australia, I hope that they will be punished to the full extent of the rules and then punished appropriately by Cricket Australia for bringing the game into disrepute.

Even better, I hope that Bancroft and Smith get banned by the match ref, but that they appeal and that there is not time for the appeal to be heard before the 4th test, so they play, and the the Saffer authorities say that it disgraceful that CA are undermining the authority of the match referee by escalating the issue into the legal realm ....

 

[Midwinter]

The other thing which shocks me about this is, how they thought it would not be picked up on camera ?

These blokes have grown up with mobile phone cameras, social media, and blanket camera coverage and they are dense enough to think no one would watch where the ball was ?

(It is possible the Warner incident occurred where it did because he thought there wouldn't be a camera there )

 

[jcas0167]

Right, but for me there's ball tampering and there's ball tampering- crosses a line when you go from dirt or saliva to get a shine or fingernails under the seam vs actually bringing an implement onto the pitch for no other purpose than a pre-mediated attempt to gain an advantage. I know it's a little legally abstract, but there's clearly a difference.

What about using a sweet to produce more saliva? I think Du Plessis was fined over that in the 2016 series and obviously it occurred in the 2005 Ashes.

 

[quincywagstaff]

This blowing up the day after Cricket Australia asked the major broadcasting networks to resubmit their bids for the next rights deal because they weren't impressive enough is just awesome timing.

On the other hand, perhaps CA will be impressed that the team managed to grab the headlines on a weekend when the AFL/NRL seasons have started and F1 race is on.

 

[zaremba]

What about using a sweet to produce more saliva? I think Du Plessis was fined over that in the 2016 series and obviously it occurred in the 2005 Ashes.

Not sure it was to produce more saliva - I think it was to get sugar in the saliva. Which other teams have done also (including Oz - I recall the 12th man some years ago bringing a load of jelly bears out to the players).

Anyway it's hard to say that sucking sweets should be prohibited. The lines are blurry, but the blurriness of the lines doesn't stop clearly wrong actions from being clearly wrong.

 

[Mike5181]

Might as well hook up a belt sander during drinks break if that's how blatant they are going to be.

 

[SeamUp]

The problem with stepping on the ball is it’s equally likely to get to the side you’re not aiming for realistically.

It does have to be very precise that is for sure. The ball basically did come to a stand-still and then he almost just kept his studs in the ball for long enough.

But at the end of the day I would like to think it was all innocent. There is bigger fish to fry unfortunately.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

Aussies now known as cheats. I must write a thank you note to the offenders.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

this has left me really disappointed










that they got caught. Bloody amateurs.

They didn't in the ashes, home cameras though and all that.

 

[quincywagstaff]

Like I said in the match thread, what fascinates me about this is how did the Australian team get to a mental stage where they decided to go down such a path?

I think it's a given that the controversies of this series led Australia to a siege mentality where they went down such a cynical path? In hindsight I reckon Lehmann's Day 2 rant about crowd behaviour (bemusing considering his 2013/14 comments about Broad and Oz's reputation crowd wise) was a pretty good illustration of how angry and bitter the side was about how they've been treated on this tour.

And perhaps after the overturning of Rabada's suspension plus allegations that Smith bumped into him made the Oz captain so angry he decided an "anything goes" policy was now in place.

Just a total failure of leadership that they went down such a path without anyone suggesting the consequences would be dire in multiple ways.

 

[Mike5181]

Still a few tips and tricks to learn from Afridi though.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

An aftermarket, “sorry we got caught,” press conference is not good enough. That’s child’s play. They should all be banned and then sent to the one true AB to find out what the rest of their punishment is.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

To be honest I reckon Pat Cummins stood on the ball deliberately now too.

Even my favourite Aussie cricketer is doing things out of character in this test.

As did the England player a few years ago. Forgotten who it was now so won't put a name to it so not putting the wrong one down and accusing them wrongly.

 

[SeamUp]

As did the England player a few years ago. Forgotten who it was now so won't put a name to it so not putting the wrong one down and accusing them wrongly.

Broad in South Africa ?

 

[zaremba]

They didn't in the ashes, home cameras though and all that.

There is some interesting footage from the Ashes of Bancroft appearing to put a handful of sugar in his pocket during a tea break.

As you do.

 

[marc71178]

As did the England player a few years ago. Forgotten who it was now so won't put a name to it so not putting the wrong one down and accusing them wrongly.

I think it might’ve been Broad? If I remember correctly it was a rolling ball so even less likely to be a deliberate act IMO.

 

[fredfertang]

There is some interesting footage from the Ashes of Bancroft appearing to put a handful of sugar in his pocket during a tea break.

As you do.

Was it a Class A controlled sugar I wonder?

 

[quincywagstaff]

I reckon there's close to zero chance of Smith and Lehmann surviving in their leadership positions and this is because of the flipside of their much-discussed "crossing the line" behaviour beliefs. You only have to see the reaction from numerous message boards/comments sections and the media reaction to see that in the eyes of Australian cricket and its fans, planned ball tampering is one of the lowest acts there is.

Personally speaking, while it's obviously a grave error what Australia did I don't think it's that bad. I'm always a bit baffled how in the eyes of Australian cricket stuff like this is the lowest of the low while other forms of cheating like not walking when you know you've nicked the ball are considered generally OK.

But that's the thing about the 'crossing the line' ethos and how seriously it's taken by Oz cricket; if you do end up on the wrong side of the line than you see what occurred in the 1st Test when South Africa were perceived to cross the line of acceptable 'banter'. And now the Australian leadership team are going to get it because they are perceived to have 'crossed the line' in one of the worst ways possible in the eyes of Oz cricket.

 

[zaremba]

I think it might’ve been Broad? If I remember correctly it was a rolling ball so even less likely to be a deliberate act IMO.

Either Broad or Anderson, and yes it was a rolling ball. Seized upon, fairly unconvincingly, by certain fans of certain countries desperate to feel better about the questionable records of some of their own players.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Broad in South Africa ?

I think it might’ve been Broad? If I remember correctly it was a rolling ball so even less likely to be a deliberate act IMO.

He was who I had in mind but wasn't going to say his name in case I was wrong and that was a 50/50 case as wasn't he running round boundary at the time and trod on ball going for 4?

Not the same as one in this series.