Cricket

[mjsell]

Record low on the cards?

[st dan]

One of the worst pieces of blatant cheating ever witnessed in the sport. I can’t quite believe what I’ve just seen there. 

Not only Bancroft, but the fact that all the Aussies were in on it - especially Smith (who threw the ball to him every time) and Lehman (who got on the radio when he was suspicious of being caught). All three should be banned for life from the sport.

Such blatant ball tampering is arguably worse than betting/drugs cheats in my opinion. It’s just everything that the game of cricket shouldn’t be about. Awful to see. 

[TheGayTent]

And they have the temerity to make a complaint about abuse from the SA crowd.... 

[kaosmark2]

I feel some sympathy for Bancroft - unless it was his idea - being in your 8th test match, pressured to do so by the captain, VC, coach, and probably a bowler. Particularly as everyone's assuming that Matt Renshaw will be an opener for them long-term. That's not an easy situation to stand your ground and say no in.

If he wasn't the one who first proposed the idea, I don't think he should get a lifetime ban (obviously a fair deal of punishment), but there will always (rightly) be a question mark about him and his integrity.

Smith and whoever proposed the idea deserve everything that's coming to them. This Aussie team have enjoyed dishing it out in recent years, had the hypocrisy to whine when they have to take it back, and clearly have no respect for other teams or the game itself.

[TheGayTent]

29 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

If he wasn't the one who first proposed the idea, I don't think he should get a lifetime ban (obviously a fair deal of punishment), but there will always (rightly) be a question mark about him and his integrity.

Unless they change the rules he’ll be getting a small fine relating to his match fee and a couple of suspension points. 

The laws of the game see ball tampering as a relatively minor offence. It’s only level 2

Edited March 25, 2018 by TheGayTent

[kaosmark2]

8 minutes ago, TheGayTent said:

Unless they change the rules he’ll be getting a small fine relating to his match fee and a couple of suspension points. 

The laws of the game see ball tampering as a relatively minor offence. It’s only level 2

Yeah. I'm actually okay with that, as "ball tampering" is such a wide ranging thing. 

I'd like, in the aftermath of this, there to be a higher offence for premeditated foreign substances being brought on for ball tampering, but obviously you can't apply new punishment levels retrospectively.

 

[st dan]

Looking back, the press conference after yesterday’s play made the whole thing 100 times worse. 

I know Smith felt he was probably doing the right thing in not throwing Bancroft under the bus, and hanging him out to dry on his own. But in doing so he admitted that there was a network of senior players/staff who planned and then executed premeditated cheating. That’s what makes this so bad. Imagine them all sat round at tea talking about doing this in an attempt to take wickets to win a test match. The smugness and invincibility they have is frightening.   

They had an hour to discuss internally and spin it anyway they wanted - as mentioned, it would have been a relatively minor offence if it was just thought that Bancroft had ball tampered, and it wouldn’t have caused such outrage. 

[TheGayTent]

1 minute ago, st dan said:

They had an hour to discuss internally and spin it anyway they wanted - as mentioned, it would have been a relatively minor offence if it was just thought that Bancroft had ball tampered, and it wouldn’t have caused such outrage. 

They would have done as you suggest if they could have done. They only didn’t because they couldn’t. Not after the discussions they’d already had that were caught on camera with Handscomb etc 

[st dan]

17 minutes ago, TheGayTent said:

 They would have done as you suggest if they could have done. They only didn’t because they couldn’t. Not after the discussions they’d already had that were caught on camera with Handscomb etc 

From what I’ve seen .. it appeared that Lehman saw the footage on the screens at the ground in Cape Town (that was broadcast so all the crowd and media could also see) of Bancroft tampering. He then passed the message on to Handscomb to warn Bancroft to hide it, and the umpires would obviously soon be onto it.

Whilst it wouldn’t look great that they tried to cover it up, it could have been spun slightly better - i.e. “We had no knowledge, we saw the footage on the screens like everyone else and I told him to stop using the object and put it away and were going to launch an internal investigation etc.”

All total bollocks of course as it was clear this was planned by them all, but just feel like it could have been handled much more smartly in the immediate aftermath.

[Ted Dansons Wig]

comedy gold

 

[mjsell]

Stuart Broad kills me:

"I saw Steve Smith in his press conference say it's the first time they've tried it, which to me seems really surprising that they have changed a method that's been working.

Look at the Ashes series we have just played, look through all of those test matches and they reverse swing the ball sometimes in conditions that you wouldn't expect the ball to reverse. So I don't understand why they have changed their method for this one game."

[guypjfreak]

I think it's mad how they don't seem..... At the moment....... To be being punished as severely as they should be concidering how our bloke wasn't allowed to play full stop for something that happened outside the game.. Ben Stokes.. 

I do think they stitched the youngster up tho 

[LJS]

 

 

[st dan]

6pm (GTM) press conference from Cricket Australia. What do we all think will be the outcome?

I’ll go for, Lehman to step down/sacked and Bancroft, Smith and Warner all to be banned from all forms of the game for rest of the year and stripped of captain/VC roles for good. 

[kaosmark2]

Doubt Bancroft will be banned for a year. Seems like he was the one they got to do it, not the instigator nor leader.

Warner might not play for Aus again based on latest reports. Apparently he tried to shift the blame onto the whole team and now they hate him.

[TheGayTent]

Only Smith, Warner, and Bancroft knew about it 

[st dan]

2 minutes ago, TheGayTent said:

Only Smith, Warner, and Bancroft knew about it 

Laughable. You can say for almost certain that Starc will have known as the senior and main line bowler - but let’s be honest, I’d be amazed if the whole team and coaching staff didn’t know. 

[kaosmark2]

I'd assume at least one bowler knew about it. If Lehmann was ignorant, which is doubtful, it says the plays won't discuss tactics with him which is just as bad for their team as if he was involved.

I can completely accept that it was a plot between 4-5 players and didn't involve the entire team, what I can't accept is the idea that it was 3 batsmen with no bowler or coach having any clue.

[Ted Dansons Wig]

Not defending his actions at all - but still upsetting to see Smith so completely distraught in his press conference this morning. Jesus - the guy is DESTROYED

[TheGayTent]

2 minutes ago, Ted Dansons Wig said:

Not defending his actions at all - but still upsetting to see Smith so completely distraught in his press conference this morning. Jesus - the guy is DESTROYED

Boo fucking hoo

[pink_triangle]

20 minutes ago, Ted Dansons Wig said:

Not defending his actions at all - but still upsetting to see Smith so completely distraught in his press conference this morning. Jesus - the guy is DESTROYED

 

17 minutes ago, TheGayTent said:

Boo fucking hoo

He is only distraught that he got caught, that’s very different to true remorse.

[TheGayTent]

3 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

 

He is only distraught that he got caught, that’s very different to true remorse.

He lied in the press conference when he was supposed to be coming clean...I have zero sympathy for him. 

He’s not even going to miss much cricket - their winter matches are against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe - he would probably have been rested for that anyway. 

[Ted Dansons Wig]

He fucked up. He knows it. Nobody died. I’m an old sucker - i felt for him.

[TheGayTent]

22 minutes ago, Ted Dansons Wig said:

He fucked up. He knows it. Nobody died. I’m an old sucker - i felt for him.

He fucked up. He tried to cover it up. Then he admitted it partially but lied about it’s true extent. Then he got caught out and cried crocodile tears. 

Go away, serve your time quietly, come back a better man. He’s 28, he potentially still has a decade to play test cricket if he wants to. 

[TheGayTent]

Looks like Boof is going after the last test now too.