stephen
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Honestly though the pitches in that series were so docile I could have scored runs on them.Johnson was spanked around by Indians in the 14-15 tour. Overall he too struggled against Indians.
Honestly though the pitches in that series were so docile I could have scored runs on them.Johnson was spanked around by Indians in the 14-15 tour. Overall he too struggled against Indians.
CA had to be tough to match the public mood. But they could have imposed three months on Bancroft, six on Warner and stripped the captaincy from Smith. At the very most they should have handed out six month bans.I put it in my usual fashion, but I meant every word of it.
The moral outrage was ridiculous and the punishment decided was enacted in proportion to the loudest of it, which was the hysterics itself.. In retrospect I note it was people outside of the forum demanding lifetime / yearly / multiple year punishments who were almost universally fairweather casuals at best.
I don't know if it was a oversimplication to not be mad enough at a bunch of guys who have played a game for a living for all their adult lives on a very public stage getting frustrated and rubbing a bit of rough paper on a rock made out of leather. But at times it felt like it.
At the risk of being further obtuse, the culture review seemed a bit farcical, maybe utterly forced and inorganic in relation to what I said in the first paragraph. Not completely in regards to a few aspects that were probably overdue, but **** man it was like analyzing a Cleveland steamer with quantum theory.
Where can you find a copy of the review?CA had to be tough to match the public mood. But they could have imposed three months on Bancroft, six on Warner and stripped the captaincy from Smith. At the very most they should have handed out six month bans.
They didn't because the board were vindictive pricks who didn't have the game's interest at heart and were stung so hard by the players in the pay dispute they actually *lost* ground in negotiations and paid out more than what the players originally demanded. So they handed out year long bans to Smith/Warner to satisfy their sense of vengeance.
What's worse is that the cultural review (which I actually read by the way) pointed the finger squarely at the board and the example that they had set and largely (but not quite) exonerated the players. But the board members got their golden handshakes, walked away and took no responsibility for the complete mess they left behind.
It still infuriates me.
Really mate? What part of my post made you feel that I was defending the "puritan" souls of Australian cricket or the cricket board?@Spark , @Starfighter , @Gnske , @OverratedSanity , @jimmy101
Don't drag Afridi into it. Wo don't boast about Elite Honesty.
Honesty is honesty. You either are or you aren't. This business of Elite Honesty, Players' Pact & "Hard but Fair" act is classic corporate-speak - high-sounding words put together to sound and look pretty but that end up meaning nothing.
Let's talk about elite honesty
Here's why it's sanctimonious, overweening, and a problem for Australia themselveswww.espncricinfo.com
I honestly can't remember where I found it. Google it.Where can you find a copy of the review?
This is really some brave stuff from Pujara but from an Aussie POV, this further highlights that the current bowling attack is seriously one-dimensional.
So essentially CA has become like every other corporation - only concerned with money. What a surprise.I honestly can't remember where I found it. Google it.
The basic thrust of it all is that the players were being pushed for performance "without counting the costs". The bubble of cricketing life that they had been in had deprived them of the ability to know when they'd gone too far and that this culture was entirely the fault of the Cricket Australia board.
From memory (though maybe I'm mixing things up a bit) they flayed the board for treating cricket like it was a product to be exploited instead of a game to be promoted. They quoted sponsors who Cricket Australia had burned bridges with and basically said that they didn't have the interests of cricket at heart, only the bottom line.
Players in Australian top tier have lived dangerously in the last decade or so, because there is no assurity regarding their places no matter how good they are, so the players are bitter due to that.I honestly can't remember where I found it. Google it.
The basic thrust of it all is that the players were being pushed for performance "without counting the costs". The bubble of cricketing life that they had been in had deprived them of the ability to know when they'd gone too far and that this culture was entirely the fault of the Cricket Australia board.
From memory (though maybe I'm mixing things up a bit) they flayed the board for treating cricket like it was a product to be exploited instead of a game to be promoted. They quoted sponsors who Cricket Australia had burned bridges with and basically said that they didn't have the interests of cricket at heart, only the bottom line.
Think we are all missing the point. The fist was there to repersent the contribution of Ben Stokes to the English team in that seriesYeah it's not like the players were responsible for this especially crass stunt:
But still sparkles coming out of them fingers looks proper dodgy.Think we are all missing the point. The fist was there to repersent the contribution of Ben Stokes to the English team in that series
Stokes didn't play that Ashes did he?Think we are all missing the point. The fist was there to repersent the contribution of Ben Stokes to the English team in that series
Found it quite poor form. Unprofessional.
Yeah, he kinda missed the flight straightening out some homophobes with his fists.Stokes didn't play that Ashes did he?
Yes, exactlyStokes didn't play that Ashes did he?
I didn't say anything about Shahid mate. In fact I always thought that he was just biting off some loose thread away from the seam. I don't think there was any ever evidence that he was actually biting into the ball.
I think that pic was posted just to illustrate how sensibly the PCB & Pakistan as a whole handled the affair, whilst the whole of Australia went into meltdown mode when sandpapergate happened.