They won't be able to pick their nose or scratch their arse without a camera zooming in on them from now on, couldn't happen to a nicer bunch...
So the two opening batsmen and the captain were in on it, but none of the bowlers? Any bowler at that level would surely recognise that the ball was suddenly reversing twenty overs early or at least see the surface looked like that.
If they were good enough to swing the ball. Or had eyes. But it’s quite difficult to see if the ball is changed deliberately or simply through being hit and bouncing. Most damage is done by the batsmen, especially if they hit it into a concrete stand. This stuff happens in nearly every professional and quite a lot of amateur games (I’m guessing), it’s certainly not a new practice. Just not often done so overtly or stupidly. With the number of cameras it’s harder get away with in international cricket than anywhere else. I’m finding it difficult to get outraged by the whole thing. No worse than Atherton a few years back. But it’s fun to see the Aussies embarrassed and ashamed about it.
I think the majority of the outrage is coming from Australia itself. They've given so much stick while they were the top dogs but they're now reduced to the dark arts to try and get one over SA and cocked it up spectacularly. The sight of that idiot Bancroft trying to surreptitiously slip the sandpaper down his pants is far worse than any batting collapse they've suffered. All teams 'work' the ball in some way, they've just taken it a step further. It was a bit rich hearing Lehman saying they're concerned for the mental well-being of the players involved. Smith did a fine display of waterworks at today's press conference but it's probably more to do with the loss of all his lucrative contracts. Kim Hughes was pilloried in the 80s when he wept at a press conference after they were beaten and he quit, Smith will just have to 'Man-up' or have the 'Hardman' Aussies gone soft?...
That almost made me feel sorry for Smith. Almost. I think he was stupid, as was Bancroft, but Warner seems to have been the prime mover - a properly nasty piece of work who deserves everything he gets.
It's a shame they didn't get a 2-year ban and miss the next Ashes. I was out in Oz (2010) and they came across as an arrogant bunch and bad losers. At the end of the day a cheat is a cheat, tears or not. Maybe it's me but the crying came across as fake.
I think Warner was the main man behind this, he has a lot of influence in the Aussie dressing room and it's not just the opposition that he tries to bully. The bans seem excessive to me and perhaps a match fine and a final warning would have sufficed. Cook already gone for two in the 2nd test. 8/1
Yeah, I think the bans were a bit over the top too. It's good that the Aussies will be knocked back, though - there was a nasty culture there.
Cook really pisses me off. He's the cricketing Michael Owen for me. Sometimes he looks like a decent player, but other times like a total novice.
Yes I agree Strolls, but the ball tampering was the issue and that should've been dealt with on it's own merit. The Aussies are an odious group of cricketers and their dirty tactics were encouraged by Lehman. He even wanted the stump mikes turned off during overs so that they could ramp up the sledging. In the Durban test Warner allegedly made continuous remarks to De Kock about his mother and sister. When they headed back to the dressing rooms De Kock called Warner's wife Candice a 'bush banger.' She had a bit of a reputation a few years ago and there's a video doing the rounds of her and New Zealand rugby player Sonny Bill Williams performing a sex act in a toilet. Warner lost it and tried to attack De Kock. A classic case of dishing it out but can't take it.
'Bush banger' is nasty on multi-levels - but, sow the wind........ Lehman also complained about South African supporters baiting Aussie players, Warner in particular. This from the man that encouraged Aussie supporters to send Stuart Broad home in tears after he refused to walk.
Here's a good insight into umpiring in a series of three video interviews with Marais Erasmus if anyone's interested ... https://www.enca.com/media/video/un...th-marais-erasmus-part-1-of-3?playlist=272348
Good recovery from England & especially bairstow & good back up from wood & leach, but we still have problems in battling from 1-5 taking out root & haven’t moved on from ashes test, I would bring in some of the one day players as can’t do any worse.
