Cricket discussion

[SD619]

This is as good (or bad) a time as any to start discussing about cricket here.

The biggest story is obviously the whole "sandpaper" incident. Smith has been banned for a match and Bancroft given 3 demerit points. Also, the Sports commission in Australia wants them banned for life.

While I agree that the punishments should be harsher, I feel like a life ban would be an overreaction.

[Khalifa]

I donâ??t care what punishment is given to Smith, but as cricket Australia I would never play him again. Thatâ??s not with punishment, I just wouldnâ??t pick him in my 11. He has put a dent in so much history Australian cricket as produced and itâ??s not the Aussie way to go about things. How he came up with that decision Iâ??ll never know but I now question everything he has done in his career or will do later down the line. Was he cheating before? Is he going to cheat then? At the end of the day he is a cheater and I donâ??t want cheaters in my team. Could you ever imagine Ricky ponting telling Glen mcGrath, Brett Lee or Shane Warne to tamper with the ball?

And another thing I have a problem with is making Bancroft do it. The kid has played 8 tests games for Australia and you want him to do your dirty work for you. So fucked by Smith and Bancroft while did do he act, was basically forced to do it. How could an 8 gamer say no to the captain of Australian cricket. Bitch move and I will never respect Smith again. Has got massiv talent but as a I said before, I have no idea where to draw the line with his cheating. I hope we drop him and Warner from the side forever. Donâ??t hand a punishment out, just donâ??t play them. As someone who is on the cusp of making the squad anyways, you would be pissed off if they were getting picked over you.

I was trying to find out who I could compare this to and the only person that does it in a team sport would be Tom Brady. Would I have him in my team, itâ??s hard to say no to the GOAT but knowing he could use cheating tendencies and someone like Aaron Rogers was next to him, it would make it easier for me to say Rogers.

[A11]

The demise of steve smith is hliarious. Was the golden child of australia, then he treated maxwell poorly and he's lost some people but now he's proper fucked. I hope they dont back down and keep him in the squad until the australian summer at which point they get abused so bad that they're begging to be back in South Africa dealing with Candice Warner & Sonny Bill Williams chants/sledges.

[CyberPunk]

I cannot for the life of me understand what Smith and the "leadership group" were thinking. I kind of feel bad for Bancroft who was imo picked because it was easy to coerce him into doing the dirty work. As a new guy, I'm not sure he could've stood up to the senior players.

As for Steve Smith, this is not the first time he has been caught with his pants down. Remember the whole "brainfart" moment of looking to the dressing room for a review in one of the tests in India? It just tarnishes his image further. The man seems to be open to brainfart moments every now and then, and this cannot be good for Australian cricket. I really hope he's banned long enough to miss the at least two IPL seasons so that the loss of those fat contracts can drill some sense into him. Life ban sounds harsh, but a season or two out of cricket (International and Domestic) is appropriate imo.

What does it tell about the dressing room culture in the Aussie camp? This cannot be the only instance they tried something like this. What does it say about Lehman? Is he right kind of coach for Australia?

[Барбоса]

A lot of Australian chickens coming home to roost.

All those years of claiming they play "hard but fair" and that they "headbutt the line" is coming back to bite them. But personally, I think that it is the Australian public's reaction that is the most damning - the Australia of Steve Smith, David Warner and Darren Lehmann are not popular even at home when they are winning.

Plenty of other questions will now be raised about previous victories, including the Ashes where the Aussies getting the ball to reverse so much more than England looks suspect. You can well imagine that various news and sports outlets are scouring their archives for evidence - and they may have already found some as Bancroft was recorded during the Ashes putting loose sugar in his pocket, which looks suspicious when he talked about having 'granules' in his pocket to put on the sticky tape.

This could get much, much worse.

[SD619]

While the CA's decision has not yet been finalized, I do not believe that only Smith, Warner and Bancroft were involved in this. Lehman seems like an obvious part and its really implausible that none of the bowlers knew anything about this.

A part of me may want to give these guys a second chance (after some time), but again, if the same was done by the Indian team, I can't say that I'd want them back.

[Барбоса]

Yeah, CA look set to pussyfoot around this, believe the lies of liars and generally make a bad situation worse, ultimately calling their own ability to govern into question.

Sutherland couldn't even bring himself to say that the ball-tampering was cheating.

[A11]

Steve Smith and Lehmann definitely popular when winning (probably even still when losing) warner varies from person to person. Thats all pretty much blown up now. They have fuck all support now though

[Барбоса]

Steve Smith and Lehmann definitely popular when winning (probably even still when losing) warner varies from person to person. Thats all pretty much blown up now. They have fuck all support now though

What are your thoughts on the past behaviour of Lehmann's Australia? What exactly are Australians angry about? The cheating, the getting caught and/or the sanctimonious, self-righteous, hypocritical twats Smith and Warner (and by extension the Australian cricket team) have revealed themselves to be?

To be honest, if it is not "all of the above" then nothing is going to change. Australia will be happy to cheer for a shower of shit so long as its winning.

Reading some of Warner's comments about Faf's ball-tampering has a delicious irony to it.

[A11]

What are your thoughts on the past behaviour of Lehmann's Australia? What exactly are Australians angry about? The cheating, the getting caught and/or the sanctimonious, self-righteous, hypocritical twats Smith and Warner (and by extension the Australian cricket team) have revealed themselves to be?

To be honest, if it is not "all of the above" then nothing is going to change. Australia will be happy to cheer for a shower of shit so long as its winning.

Reading some of Warner's comments about Faf's ball-tampering has a delicious irony to it.

So the australian identity and sense of self worth comes from our sporting prowess. We literally don't care about anything else (although we conveniently only focus on sports that fuck all countries care about). So the outrage comes from them compromising the integrity of our sporting image. The sledging and all that we have done in the past is not that big of a deal its part of our psyche to be aggressive and win at all costs (but within the rules of the game). The outrage isnt at them being hypocritical just that we are now cheats

[Khalifa]

A11 hit the nail on the head. Sledging, while not completely apart of the game, Is more of a competitive spirit the Australians have (shit almost anybody). Sometimes it gets taken too far but as a whole the intention is right, affect the opposition players game. Mental toughness is as much of any sport as anything else.

The problem is the cheatIng. Itâ??s literally all we give a stuff about, being the best at sports half the world doesnâ??t play. Every bit of character we have molded over the years has no been torn apart by one pathetic, disgraceful act. Sure we are still the team that had the Waughs, Bradman, Ponting, Warne etc but we are also the cheats hat come into town every game we play now.

As for a punishment, like I said before the punishment do Smith and Warner I do not care for, I just would never play them again. I do have a problem with bancroft getting a ban and Iâ??m interested to see how the rest of Australians have reacted to it. He was doing what the boss said, sure he was the one who did it but if your boss tells you to do something you do it. 9 months is too harsh, wouldâ??ve preferred a 6 month ban. Steve Smith may have one of the greatest batting averages in Australia history (I think he is only behind the Sir Donald himself) but fuck him ever playing for Australia again. In saying that a year is probably fair. This is going to affect his mental health greatly (heâ??s not very strong in that department it seems) so Iâ??m happy with it being only one year for that. We donâ??t want the â??poorâ?? kid eventually necking himself.

[A11]

I dont know what the rules in regards to posting links to external site but Geoff Lemon (just search Geoff Lemon abc and you'll find it) wrote up a good article that pretty much explained the whole thing. Its not the actual tampering that they're getting into shit for its covering it up.

Basically Warner is the fuckwit. While the narrative of it was just a thing thought of at the lunch break still doesnt hold up, it does make a bit more sense. Warner was under the microscope from the previous test so dragged in Bancroft. Steve Smith didnt do enough to stop it and then tried to cover it up because Warner was on the verge of a suspension already. What amazes me is that Warner continued to deny until Smith and Bancroft told the Cricket Australia investigators as such. And that for me is unforgivable. You do not throw your mates under the bus. Even above all the stuff about sport being part of our identity, mateship is number one. Dave warner throwing his fucking captain under the bus by doing it in the first place and then even after he covers your ass you reverse the bus back over him. So in a way I'm willing to forgive steve smith he's been absolutely shanked by a piece of shit. So fuck dave warner the grub.

[Khalifa]

Interesting. I just read it. I still am not certain on Smith not knowing it, like hearing ramblings or maybe a conversation about it but not thinking itâ??s serious. Why would Bancroft not address it to Smith if Warner told him, and if Smith did know then not doing anything to stop it is almost as bad. Your the captain of Australia, youâ??re meant to make sure we donâ??t fuck up, and he either said yes this is happening or is taking the blame for no reason. Warner will never play again thatâ??s for sure and he still is in the fuckhead category. Maybe Smith can redeem himself for being a weak captain if you will, even after the years of experience. I think I could lean to him being able to play again. Just disappointing our captain would do that.

Lehmann has stepped down too. I donâ??t believe he had any part in this but he kindve has to step down.

[A11]

Interesting. I just read it. I still am not certain on Smith not knowing it, like hearing ramblings or maybe a conversation about it but not thinking it’s serious. Why would Bancroft not address it to Smith if Warner told him, and if Smith did know then not doing anything to stop it is almost as bad. Your the captain of Australia, you’re meant to make sure we don’t fuck up, and he either said yes this is happening or is taking the blame for no reason. Warner will never play again that’s for sure and he still is in the fuckhead category. Maybe Smith can redeem himself for being a weak captain if you will, even after the years of experience. I think I could lean to him being able to play again. Just disappointing our captain would do that.

Lehmann has stepped down too. I don’t believe he had any part in this but he kindve has to step down.

I'm starting to swing the other way. I believe everyone was in on it and this is just the first time they've been caught. But this is the first charge and its way over the top for 12 months compared to previous suspensions but the previous suspensions are piss weak. For india, arguably the pinnacle of corruption in the sport, to ban the players from the IPL is bullshit. Fdp has been charged twice and he has the fucking nerve to say he suspects this has been going on previously, jog on faf you twat. David warner, still a cunt

[Барбоса]

the previous suspensions are piss weak.

Personally, I think this is the crux of the matter when commenting on the suspensions.

Previous suspensions were very, very light. Even if you accept that Athers and even Faf with the mint had a brainfade (highly doubtable), they got off extremely lightly.

Perhaps it has taken the use of sandpaper to wake cricketing authorities up to the seriousness of such cheating, premeditated or not. Smith, Warner and Bancroft deserve to get the book thrown at them and a year-long ban, while harsh is the best way for cricket to sort itself out and stamp out such blatant cheating.

As for who was in on it, at the very least the bowlers will have noticed the difference made to the ball.

[sreesahim]

It is much harsher punishment and i am going to miss Mr. Smith hereafter in cricket.:(

[SD619]

Not sure how many of you follow IPL, but this catch by AB is incredible:

https://streamable.com/3aq29