I have been dithering as to whether or not to comment on the catastrophic debacle that has rammed home the lesson of Icarus to the Australian cricket team and, alas, to the Australian people. I hesitated because it is hardly good manners to dance at a funeral! Also, I am forced to admit that cricket is yet another subject about which I know next to nothing and, to be frank, I'm not sure that I have anything useful to add.
As a nipper, I was cricket fan and the likes of Dennis Compton - and Donald Bradman - were amongst my heroes. Gradually, as I grew up, I drifted away from cricket but even so I still followed it at a distance. I can't remember exactly when I turned away in some disgust at the oafish 'yobbery' that was becoming more and more a part of the game. Also, I gained the distinct impression that this decline in behaviour was more than encouraged and practiced by the Australian team. Perhaps the worst example is the practice of 'sledging'. For the benefit of my non-cricketing readers, this is the practice of the fielding side who more or less surround the batsman, offering a stream of derogatory and personal remarks to each other but aimed at the batsman in order to distract him. Recently the Australian team asked that the microphones in the stumps be switched off so that the public could not hear what they were saying.
Thus, the Australian hubris grew and grew until their ball-tampering cheating was finally exposed. Today we witnessed the excruciating sight on TV of the Australian captain actually breaking down and weeping as he realised the enormity of the hubris that had engulfed him. At this point, I will steal the words (so no change there then!) of my e-pal, Tim Newman, who delivers a harsh judgment of almost Australian proportions on the TV interview with Steve Smith, the Aussie captain:
You cannot one minute be leading a team of swaggering, foul-mouthed yobs who are forever telling their opponents they should “man up” when they make the slightest complaint about your conduct, and the next be crying like a girl on television because you’ve been fired for your own blinding stupidity. Either you are catastrophically weak as a person and should never have been in such a position of leadership, or you’re putting it on in order to garner sympathy.
Harsh but, alas, true! Even so, it is worth pausing slightly to review the motes in one's own eyes which have accumulated over the years. This whole disaster is, of course, a human tragedy. Not in the sense that is has wrought massive harm on the innocent but that it has virtually destroyed the three main culprits who were responsible. They, and alas, their innocent loved ones, will now suffer the shame and ignominy for decades. Dammit, that human nature has much to answer for - as old Will Shakespeare demonstrated over and over again!
Smith will hopefully be back. Warner hopefully not.
Posted by: Hector Drummond, Vile Novelist | Friday, 30 March 2018 at 00:26
Given the past instances in ball tampering by other nations and the penalties from both the ICC and Cricket Australia for these three I wonder whether, in this case, the penalties far exceed the crime.
On the other hand down here we like our international teams to compete hard but fair and by not doing so they have let not only the team down but also the large number of cricket followers here and such a circumstance is not looked upon kindly.
It is going to take some time for our Test cricketers to redeem themselves in Australian eyes. What other nations think does not bother me as none of the cricketing nations can claim to be squeaky clean.
Posted by: AussieD | Friday, 30 March 2018 at 05:39
Chag Sameach all.
Are you still out there TBH?
Posted by: AussieD | Friday, 30 March 2018 at 05:49
AussieD, I have not seen or heard from Henry since early January.
Posted by: Whitewall | Friday, 30 March 2018 at 12:00
Thanks Whitewall.
Hope he is OK
Posted by: AussieD | Friday, 30 March 2018 at 22:32
I sent him an e-mail shortly after he disappeared but answer came there none! I do miss his acerbic commentary.
Posted by: David Duff | Friday, 30 March 2018 at 22:38
A new Olympic sport is born ...
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2018/03/31/david-warner-struggles-shake-moniker-serial-offender-latest/
"Synchronized Crying for the Cameras".
Being a sports fan is truly the most naive, deluded, and truth-detrimental passtime of all passtimes. In these respects it's probably only outranked by being a card carrying member of a political party.
Social services should remove the children from sports fanatical parents who bring their children up to adore this spectacle of lies, false role models, abuse of power, and corruption, it being a sure sign of bad parenting.
SoD
Posted by: Loz | Sunday, 01 April 2018 at 09:56