To every cricket-fans around the world the only question that comes to mind in the wake of the recent ball-tempering scandal involving Australian team, especially after the placid response from the International Cricket Council (ICC), is should Smith-Warner duo not be handed life bans?
Since International Cricket Council (ICC) has failed, literally once again, to rise to the occasion and punish the Smith-Warner duo sternly, it is high time that the world cricket fans should unite, and preferably individual cricketing nation’s respective boards should also drive the point to ICC that what Smith-Warner duo actually deserves is a life-ban.
The one biggest reason to justify such a demand is not just the nature of the ball-tempering scandal, but the outrageous nature of confession made out about the overt and implicit involvement of the “leadership team,” which definitely involves the coach and the senior players of the team.
The manner of confession is simply adding insult to the injury. The injury, in this case, is to the integrity of the entire Australian cricket system – and insult is that in Steven Smith’s mind, Australian cricket team is above and beyond rest of the world – a myth that has been so conspicuously perpetuated in collusion with world cricketing body, ICC.
Probably time has come to challenge this perception or else this distorted myth will be continued to be perpetuated in the minds of generations of Aussie crickets at the cost of players and fans of other cricketing nation.
When players from all around the world have been punished audaciously, or at least pursued relentlessly by the same cricketing board (ICC) for either trivial matters (India’s Harbhajan Singh) or crimes depicting loss of integrity (Chris Cairns for lying under oath), how can players from Australian team can be allowed to escape so placidly.
Former Indian off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh tweeted: Wow@ICC wow. Great treatment nd fair play. No ban for Bancroft with all evidence whereas 6 of us were banned for excessive appealing in South Africa 2001 without any evidence, and remember Sydney 2008? Not found guilty and banned for 3 matches. Different people, different rules.
Similarly, time and again, stories make the headline about Kiwi player Chris Cairns being in financial turmoil for lying under oath and implicitly being involved in match-fixing – one of the gravest crime in the game of cricket affecting the integrity of the game.
All it reflects that a distorted myth is being perpetuated generation after generation that Australian cricket beyond the reach of cricket’s main governing body.
Probably it is this myth perpetuated at the highest level that breeds arrogance in the Aussie cricket players and gets translated into “sledging and banter” so evidently employed as a tactic on the pitches.
The time has come to change it and make cricket a gentleman’s game once again.