[bazzap]

I wrote this on Facebook a few minutes ago

To wear the Baggy Green is probably the highest honour in Australian sport. To dishonour that cap is unacceptable. Yes, Aussies play the game the hardest and play to win but always within the rules (sometimes push those boundaries) but to knowingly cheat is intolerable.

It's time for Sutherland and CA to show some mettle and show that cheating is not tolerated in Australian cricket. Smith, Bancroft and whoever else was involved should be removed immediately and never allowed to return. Probably forfeit this Test as well.

I go back to watching an Ashes Test in 1962 at the SCG and, other than Phil Hughes dying, this is probably the saddest day in Australian cricket for me. ☹️

Feeling gutted at the moment

[kuranda_bagman]

Originally Posted by bazzap

Feeling gutted at the moment

Same here mate it's just so fucked it's hard to believe its happened to one of the sports I've followed all my life - Cunts

[ferocious]

I’m shocked to say the least ..! Been watching this series and it’s been very feisty surprised it hasn’t came to blows to be honest the Aussie team seem to be out of control and Lehman moaning about the crowd giving his team too much stick are very contradictory pleased it not England involved in this especially coming off the back of an ashes series win would be tarnished , i’d love to know how long it’s bern going on with this lot

[Frankie]

Hopefully Smith and those involved will never play international cricket again. To knowingly cheat just can't be tolerated. But what really gets me is how did they expect to get away with it? This is a high profile Test series every move made on the field is picked up on camera and analysed. In the last Ashes Test series held in England Sky had 40 plus cameras focussed on the field of play. Don't know how many the SA broadcaster would have but I would think 10 would pick nearly everything up. So how did they ever expect to get away with it? Are their brains up their fuckin arses or something? Their arrogance is absolutely staggering.

[kuranda_bagman]

100% spot on with everything you say mate.

All those involved should be banned from all competitive cricket forever - No ifs or buts. They should also be required to hand in their Baggy Greens - I'm totally gutted over this despicable act.

Originally Posted by Frankie

Hopefully Smith and those involved will never play international cricket again. To knowingly cheat just can't be tolerated. But what really gets me is how did they expect to get away with it? This is a high profile Test series every move made on the field is picked up on camera and analysed. In the last Ashes Test series held in England Sky had 40 plus cameras focussed on the field of play. Don't know how many the SA broadcaster would have but I would think 10 would pick nearly everything up. So how did they ever expect to get away with it? Are their brains up their fuckin arses or something? Their arrogance is absolutely staggering.

[bazzap]

Excellent article by Tracey Holmes on the ABC website today

Dear Steve,


I've often thought about the pain and stress of having to make a long-distance flight home when someone close to you has unexpectedly died. I imagine not wanting to make small talk with the passenger seated next to me. I imagine waves of emotion like anger, sadness and distress. I imagine being dog-tired but unable to sleep. I imagine it possibly being the worst hours of one's life.

No-one has died in this instance, but the lonely journey awaiting you warrants some comparisons.

Not until today have I ever contemplated what it must be like to be flying home in your circumstances: as a captain of the Australian cricket team, who conspired to cheat and still believes he is the best person for the job.

No doubt you are going over and over what exactly you've done and the impact it has had.

Are you angry at yourself, or angry at the outcry back home? Are you distressed at the prospect of never captaining the country again, or do you genuinely think you deserve to have the "C" after your name still? Are you saddened by the prospect of a generation of kids who wanted to be "just like Steve Smith" and this morning are asking their parents "but why did he cheat?"


I do feel for you, Steve. I would not want to be in your shoes. But this was entirely self-inflicted. You made a bad/wrong/unethical decision and now are paying the price. Your flight home is taking you from the top of the world to one of the loneliest places on the planet.

I've heard reports that the team has been surprised by the outcry. I'm surprised any of you are surprised.

That perhaps is the root of the problem.

There's been no shortage of people lining up to speak about the arrogance of the team that has been allowed to build and fester. The team has developed a reputation for being quick to call out others' faults without ever seeing its own. Those who watch these things closely, from commentators to former captains, have spoken of "the bubble" and the fact that you've floated so far from the reality of normal people that you no longer know what reality is.

Reality is having two feet on the ground. It's reading the pulse of the society you supposedly represent. It's knowing right from wrong and having the courage, no matter how difficult, to make the right choice.

I can hear you saying, "but we all make mistakes". It's true. We do. But how many of us are chosen to wear the baggy green cap of the Australian men's cricket team — a position that until now has often had more respect than for those who serve as our political leaders?

Only 45 Australians have ever been made captain of the Australian men's team, you being the 45th. It's an exclusive club. It does not deserve the type of attention you have brought to it.

When politics turns ugly we turn to our sports teams. More than anything else in our culture it is our sports teams that bring us together. You unite us in a way our politicians can't. You do what many of us would like to. You have the talent and opportunity to represent us all. You are how we see ourselves egalitarian, underdogs, unafraid to take on the world and regularly punch above our weight.

Today that is not the case. Today there is a collective sense of embarrassment, anger, shame and disbelief. All of us are tarnished in the eyes of the world for what you and your leadership team did.

I've never seen such emotion and anguish on a national scale. Are you starting to understand the impact of what you've done?

Some have call for a life ban, others are more forgiving. After all, you haven't committed murder. But you have brought our name, all our names, into disrepute. Surely, the penalty for that must be significant.

The Rajasthan Royals, coming back to the lucrative IPL competition after their own integrity issues, did a thorough and extensive search to find someone who stood for ethics and values that surpassed the sporting field. They picked you. They signed you to a $2.4 million contract as the person who could lead them out of exile and onto centre stage as the team that stood for the highest values.


That mission has now been trashed.

Steve, unlike many that I've heard talking over the past 24-48 hours, I do have some empathy for you. For the rest of your life people will see the "C" next to your name and think it means "cheat". I don't think you will ever captain Australia again. That is a tragedy of your own doing.

But there can be redemption. You will need to work harder than ever to earn it.

We have seen you stand like a warrior at the crease, leading the team from the front and holding out your chest like you could take on the world. Well, here's your chance to do it again, but for something far more significant than an Australian sports team winning a match: this one is for all of us, this one is for Australia's reputation as much as your own. This, now, is your challenge.


Seek the help of those who can help you.

I hope you can do it, for all our sakes.

I wish you well,

Tracey

[bazzap]

I love this. Some bloke sent it to The Guardian not long before last night's press conference

Cricket has turned from a sport to a ritual in Australia. The team song with the wattle, visiting the graveyards in France, and of course the Legend Of the Baggy Green. This coincided with a time that the team were all but invincible, so, practices became sanctified, and indelibly associated with outcomes.


So when Michael Clarke tried to head off before singing the song he was nearly throttled. The Baggy Green became a sacred item - literally; Steve Waugh wore one that was battered beyond recognition. It was a holy relic. The G was referred to as ‘sacred turf’.


That’s right cricket became, to all extents and purposes, a cult. Or a religion, if you prefer.


Trouble is that if rituals are transgressed condemnation is wild and fierce. To Australians cheating at cricket became blasphemous. The only fitting punishment for such impiety becomes excommunication.


It was easier when cricket was cricket. Not forced to do double duty in binding a fragile society, forever unsure of its place in the world, together. Smith, Warner and Bancroft are now going to be taken to a place outside the city walls and ritually stoned.

[bazzap]

I just read an article on CricInfo today saying the current culture of the Australian cricket team is Steve Waugh's fault. The same article also calls Steve Waugh a cheat.


Written by a bloke called Osman Samiuddin who turns out to be a Pakistani cricket writer


Fancy a Pakistani labelling Steve Waugh a cheat? Obviously coming from the high moral ground of Pakistani cricket








Watched the NZ/England Test today from Christchurch. Good comeback by the Poms but the best thing for me was the lovely old-fashioned cricket ground. Far better than the soulless stadiums we use in Australia these days for Test cricket


Just my two bobs worth

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by bazzap

I just read an article on CricInfo today saying the current culture of the Australian cricket team is Steve Waugh's fault. The same article also calls Steve Waugh a cheat.


Written by a bloke called Osman Samiuddin who turns out to be a Pakistani cricket writer


Fancy a Pakistani labelling Steve Waugh a cheat? Obviously coming from the high moral ground of Pakistani cricket








Watched the NZ/England Test today from Christchurch. Good comeback by the Poms but the best thing for me was the lovely old-fashioned cricket ground. Far better than the soulless stadiums we use in Australia these days for Test cricket


Just my two bobs worth

Actually Baz thats an interesting point. In Oz you have some massive grounds, more like Premier League Football stadia. There was talk of why England didn't have or build a 40,000 to 50,000 capacity purpose built cricket stadium. An opinion was formed that this wouldn't represent what English cricket traditionally stands for. The philosophy is you start with the pitch and pavilion and then evolve from there. Stands are added, as necessary, at various stages as the ground grows.

Best example is Lords where Victorian Architecture meets Modern. Relatively small playing area on a pitch that slopes down from The Grandstand to The Taverners Stand. Its all a bit eccentric really, mixed in with some good old fashioned snobbery from the MCC. Although I believe the SCG and MCG do have some old type stands and a scoreboard at one.

Anyway back on topic. After Smith bubbling on telly, well crocodile tears really, the attitude seems to be more of what you get from EPL Players etc who think they are blameless and are never accountable. Seems like its spread to cricket Down Under. Thing is they have been held to account by the Oz public and now must incur their wrath. This starts at the top though. Apart from the fact that this stuff should never have occurred once it was evident the following should have immediately resigned: Coach, Captain and Vice Captain as between them they are responsible for anything that every player gets up to on or off the field of play. To plead ignorance/innocence is pathetic. If you didn't know what was happening, your incompetent, if you did know then your held culpable.

[bazzap]

It's all about the IPL at the moment. No other cricket happening other than the start of the English county season.


Have to say that I do enjoy watching the T20 game. Totally meaningless with zero team loyalty (for me) but good entertainment. I follow whoever is playing against Royal Challengers Bangalore coz they are captained by Virat Kohli. He may be the best batsman in the world but what a wanker. He can be so arrogant at times. Since he has taken over the Indian Test captaincy, he has never had the same team in consecutive matches. Obviously likes to assert his control over the team.


The big plus is getting to see a lot of players that you don't normally see in the international games. There is still life in a few of the old fellas too. Chris Gayle & Shane Watson both scoring tons in the last couple of nights. Gayle taking Rashid Kahn to the cleaners and hitting four consecutive 6's certainly put him in his place.


Getting a decent signal on my Android box. Watching it on Sky Sports Cricket channel in HD. Excellent picture and works 90% of the time. Listening to the English players in the studio during the breaks is OK too. Would have thought Bairstow should have been playing in the IPL.


Another plus is that it takes my mind off the Australian Test team. It still brings a tear to my eye when I think about what those three bastards have done.


On a lighter note, I still carry that piece of sandpaper in my wallet that Adam gave us earlier this month. Looking out for some yellow stuff as I want to have the real thing. Might come in handy one day.