***Official*** Sri Lanka Tour of West Indies 2018

[TheJammyTurtle]

Well Faf has been banned for ball tampering twice previous and Philander once so you would think that it definitely would have crossed some of their minds

 

[Burgey]

It was just following the great Aussie tradition of cheating and then feeling self-riotous i.e Steve Waugh

There ain’t no riot like a self-riot.

 

[Burgey]

So you saying that Aus thought that they must be doing something so therefore did something themselves... like go find the sandpaper? Of course the fact that in both the previous matches the ball was reversing for both sides without sandpaper. Unless everybody had been using sandpaper!

Sorry I don't buy that. Makes more sense that they were under pressure in the match, and because of what had happened in the previous matches, on and off the field, Warner and Co. decided they needed to get back into the match in whatever way possible. It was a brain-fade caused by Test match stress.

Probably sums it up tbh. No excuse for it though.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Sri Lanka's captain Dinesh Chandimal was the seventh case of ball-tampering since the Oval incident of 2006; all seven have been nailed by video evidence, all when playing away from home. Neutral tournaments - albeit one-dayers and T20 - have had no such incident, except once in the Champions Trophy in 2013 when the ball was changed but no reason was provided. Penalty runs were not awarded either. Off the record, those in the ICC acknowledge that reliance on broadcasters is a hindrance to fair implementation of ball-tampering sanctions. It is not a coincidence that home players never get caught.

Now with the stakes even higher, the chances of a home player being caught tampering are even slimmer. Broadcasters have a business to run, and it is actually worse for the people working in the field: commentators have lost their jobs for far less tangible damage than a director might cause by catching a home player in the act. This is not to say that broadcasters want to wield this influence. Some want the ICC to take over the decision-making. The ICC, though, cannot take over decision-making because it involves paying technology vendors money, and that money will have to come from the share of the member boards. Good luck convincing them.


Monga: No point punishing ball-tampering harshly if the home team never gets caught - ESPNcricinfo


Sums up pretty much everything that's wrong with how ICC handles ball tampering

 

[cnerd123]

So the issue is that the ICC-level Sanctions can only be handed out on the basis of there being TV Evidence. But because these camera crews are not employed by the ICC, there exists the possibility that the home board will put pressure on the Broadcasters to make incrimination footage 'disappear'.

This then leads to the, entirely hypothetical, scenario where an umpire sees the home team player tamper the ball, levies the penalty, reports it to the ICC, but there happens to be no video footage available of the incident. What happens then? The on-field 5 penalty run can (and should) be applied in absence of video evidence, but the ICC cannot levy an off-field sanction without evidence. So their hands are tied and they can't do anything. This then appears to be inconsistent, and the team involved will immediately deny any wrong doing, and then attack the umpires for being biased/unfair/incompetent. If the ICC does sanction someone on the umpires' word with no video evidence, the same complaints are now directed towards the ICC.

Furthemore, every time an away-team player gets caught on camera tampering the ball from now on, he will just claim the home team is doing it too but the broadcasters don't show it.

All this chaos means that Social Media will be filled with angry fans demanding justice, and all in all it's a PR disaster.

And that's really the problem here right? We believe that all players and teams will deny cheating whilst accusing everyone else of doing the same, TV broadcasters are assumed to be biased until proven otherwise, no one trusts trained professional umpires to know what they're doing, and the ICC doesn't want bad PR. Everyone is a **** and no one is happy.

Easy to criticize but no one has a solution.

 

[cnerd123]

What needs to be noted, however, is that both the ICC and the Umpires were absolutely spot on in their handling of this incident. They saw someone tampering, they got evidence, they enforced the law, and they levied the off-field penalty afterwards. Absolutely perfect and spot on.

Yet somehow they are the ones under scrutiny, and no one wants to focus on what ****s the Sri Lankan team and the SLCB are being.

 

[harsh.ag]

What needs to be noted, however, is that both the ICC and the Umpires were absolutely spot on in their handling of this incident. They saw someone tampering, they got evidence, they enforced the law, and they levied the off-field penalty afterwards. Absolutely perfect and spot on.

Yet somehow they are the ones under scrutiny, and no one wants to focus on what ****s the Sri Lankan team and the SLCB are being.

Well it's because of the innate human notion that punishment isn't okay if it's applied selectively. And also that if the other side is cheating, then you can too. None of this is obviously wrong.

 

[cnerd123]

I mean, the focus for this one off incident should absolutely be the behavior of the Sri Lankans and their board

The wider discussion of how ball tampering is managed and enforced has been on going and will continue to go on. That's fine. But that shouldnt be the centre of attention in this situation. Sri Lanka behaved abysmally and they should be the ones who have scathing articles written about them. Not the ICC.

 

[harsh.ag]

I mean, the focus for this one off incident should absolutely be the behavior of the Sri Lankans and their board

The wider discussion of how ball tampering is managed and enforced has been on going and will continue to go on. That's fine. But that shouldnt be the centre of attention in this situation. Sri Lanka behaved abysmally and they should be the ones who have scathing articles written about them. Not the ICC.

If the home teams get away with similar behaviour, then the system is broken and that is absolutely the more important thing to focus on.

 

[Burgey]

Great to see ***** paraphrasing an article and passing it off as analysis. As usual.

 

[cnerd123]

I disagree.

Firstly, it's basically speculation and rumours at this point that the home team is getting away with tampering while the away team isn't. We haven't seen this actually happen. This is an imagined problem in a hypothetical scenario. It's a very real concern that should be addressed, sure. But it's has not happened yet. No one can provide any evidence that it is.

It isn't speculation, however, that the Sri Lankan cricket team straight up refused to listen to the umpires and match referee, and that they held up the match for 2 hours. This was seen. This was broadcast all over the world. Kids were watching this. This is what people saw when they tuned in, this is what people were talking about when the subject of Cricket was brought up.

This goes to my second point. What do we care about more? Do we care more about teams tampering the ball - that dirtly little secret that every team in the history of the game has been doing, that 99.9% of perpetrators get away with, that has more grey areas of 50 shades, and that you wouldn't even understand if you weren't a cricket obsessive? Do we care more about that, than we care about upholding the spirit of the game?

Take a look at the MCC Preamble on the Spirit of Cricket:

Cricket owes much of its appeal and enjoyment to the fact that it should be played not only according to the Laws, but also within the Spirit of Cricket.

The major responsibility for ensuring fair play rests with the captains, but extends to all players, umpires and, especially in junior cricket, teachers, coaches and parents.

Respect is central to the Spirit of Cricket.

Respect your captain, team-mates, opponents and the authority of the umpires.

Play hard and play fair.

Accept the umpire’s decision.

Create a positive atmosphere by your own conduct, and encourage others to do likewise.

Show self-discipline, even when things go against you.

Congratulate the opposition on their successes, and enjoy those of your own team.

Thank the officials and your opposition at the end of the match, whatever the result.

Cricket is an exciting game that encourages leadership, friendship and teamwork, which brings together people from different nationalities, cultures and religions, especially when played within the Spirit of Cricket.

'Play Hard but Fair' Sure, tampering the ball goes against the Fair part.

How many lines of that tiny piece of text did the Sri Lankans just violate?

How much about ball tampering, ICC sanctions, and the broadcasters influence do you think the average cricket fan actually knows or cares about? Do you think the average cricket fan is outraged at the hypothetical possibility of the home team possibly getting away with attempting to change the condition of the ball, something that no one can even demonstrably prove has an effect (outside of scuffing one side up with bottle caps)? Is that the lasting message that fans are taking away from this incident? Is that the lesson that young kids are learning about cricket?

Or is the takeway that once you get to a sufficiently high level, you don't need to listen to the umpires, you can straight up refuse to play, and your national board will support you through it?

What do you think the next generation of Sri Lankan cricketers learnt about the Spirit of Cricket in this incident? How do you think cricket came off that day to the casual observer? What happened to respecting the umpire and playing the game in a sporting spirit? What about respecting the fans who paid for a ticket to the ground to watch the game?


In my opinion, what Sri Lanka did in refusing to play is far, far more reprehensible than the potential of the home team getting away with tampering the ball. Their actions have done actual real harm to the game, and that should absolutely be the focus.


No reason you can't have both conversations side by side, but the feeling Im getting is that more people are interested in debating the nooks and crannies of Ball Tampering than they are about holding SL and their Board on blast for their attitude.

 

[harsh.ag]

Yeah I wasn't talking about SL not taking the field, just the ball tampering. Agree wrt the former.

But this

Firstly, it's basically speculation and rumours at this point that the home team is getting away with tampering while the away team isn't. We haven't seen this actually happen. This is an imagined problem in a hypothetical scenario. It's a very real concern that should be addressed, sure. But it's has not happened yet. No one can provide any evidence that it is.

is just a naive view.

 

[StephenZA]

I`m not so sure that the broadcasters will be that biased.... ultimately they are media companies and want a story. In SA at least I can see them going as hard on the SA team as any opposition team. And I can see that being similar in England. Unsure about the RoW but can see similar in Aus and possibly India. Obviously the ability of the local board to put pressure on the broadcasters cannot be discounted either.

 

[TheJediBrah]

I`m not so sure that the broadcasters will be that biased.... ultimately they are media companies and want a story. In SA at least I can see them going as hard on the SA team as any opposition team. And I can see that being similar in England. Unsure about the RoW but can see similar in Aus and possibly India. Obviously the ability of the local board to put pressure on the broadcasters cannot be discounted either.

Yeah you're living in fairy land. So hi to the rainbow unicorns for me

 

[StephenZA]

Yeah you're living in fairy land. So hi to the rainbow unicorns for me

Why? I've seen plenty of times our media rip into the home boys, seen it for Eng as well. Look how the current Aus media reacted? You telling me the broadcaster would just not air it out of 'kindness and goodwill' rather than get better ratings? Nah, not naive, money talks. I`m not saying they would not delight in the opposition getting hammered, just the bias is being over emphasised for at least some of the countries broadcasters.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Why? I've seen plenty of times our media rip into the home boys, seen it for Eng as well. Look how the current Aus media reacted? You telling me the broadcaster would just not air it out of 'kindness and goodwill' rather than get better ratings? Nah, not naive, money talks. I`m not saying they would not delight in the opposition getting hammered, just the bias is being over emphasised for at least some of the countries broadcasters.

and let me know how the fairy-floss elves are doing

 

[Bijed]

I know it's ages ago now, but FWIW the Michael Atherton 'dirt in pocket' affair was pretty high-profile and occurred at a Lords' test, so home sides aren't totally immune from incriminating footage being noticed

 

[harsh.ag]

Tbf it is more likely that away sides would need to engage in ball tampering to win.

 

[Borges]

Sums up pretty much everything that's wrong with how ICC handles ball tampering

Do you have a viable solution? This Monga character apparently doesn't.

No commercial cricket broadcaster, even one appointed by the ICC, will ever be neutral, they would always try to please their largest audience;
they make their money from advertising.

 

[Maximas]

So in all likelihood both Chandimal (suspension) and Herath (injury) will be unavailable for the next test, leaving Suranga Lakmal to lead SL, not something I considered likely to ever happen after I saw him for the first time back in 2012 on that awful Australia tour.

Really is becoming quite a second string team due to injuries and what-not now