Steve Smith pretty much admitted he and the "leadership group" decided to do it because they needed an edge in the game cuz the ball was reverse swinging.
I believe the coach (Darren Lehmann) knew about it too.
Steve Smith will probably take the fall and be removed from the team.
What bugs me the most is how they made the youngest member of the team do the cheating. Bancroft is still to blame but he must have felt like he had no choice.
Smith and Warner have stepped down for the rest of this test and I'm guessing they won't play in the 4th one. Smith has destroyed his legacy and will never be captain again both internationally and in the IPL.
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Meh. The PM is likely secretly happy this is distracting from his useless government.
I'm really embarrassed and am hoping for lengthy suspensions and leadership changes however the more I think about it there is a lot of overreacting, such as the calls for lifetime bans. Like baseball, ball tampering has been part of the game for years with an attitude of it's only cheating if you get caught. The ICC clearly doesn't consider it a big deal with only a one match suspension.
If anything good comes of this I hope it is more clarity around the ball tampering rules. For example why is sucking on a candy and then rubbing sugary saliva on the ball considered okay?
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I guess ICC uses the same wheel of justice as the NHL.
Well Rabada did have his suspension revoked in the end.
It comes down to them setting up the rules the way they did - contact with an opposition player is vague, and would cover a tap during celebration or something more intentional.
Ball-tampering is too weakly punished by ICC, but I expect Cricket Australia to come down hard, especially with all the backlash.
However, if you step back and look at the big picture - this is not the first instance of a player/team using a foreign object to change the condition of the ball. it may be one of the more blatant, but it is not an unique event.
The main factor here that makes this worse is the captain/coach/leadership group co-opting the most junior player into the cheating. They tried to hide the evidence, but then made a full admission. Other cases, players have denied everything or only come clean much later.
For me, you have to sack the coach and strip the captaincy and vice-captaincy - the leadership team should no longer be leading, plain and simple. That is down to the coercion used on a junior player - abuse of power should mean removal of power position.
As for suspension beyond 1 game, up to and including life bans, this is a very tricky situation, precedent setting in fact. What does this event have that makes it warrant an unprecedented punishment? Would Smith, Warner, etc. take the case to court for future earnings if banned long-term, given the lack of precedent?
All I can say is that what they did was wrong in so many ways, poor sportsmanship and they should face discipline. And also that I am so glad I am not the one deciding the discipline to be levied, as it is close to a no-win situation.
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Smith and Warner have been suspended for 12 months while Bancroft will be out for 9.
Seems a little harsh, I wouldn't be surprised if there are appeals.
If they were to appeal, they would need to wait until the public backlash cools down. Appealing now they may have a case in law, but the court of public opinion would destroy them. Sponsors are already fleeing, so the best course of action is likely to cop the ban, show genuine remorse, and fade into the background in the short term. That way in 6-9 months they can start positioning themselves for recalls for the Ashes.
I think this is the first action, and then a deeper review may bring more changes. IMO to clean up the image of the team, Lehmann has to go, and you either bring in a well respected foreign coach or an ex-Aussie player with a strong presence and reputation. My ideal choice would be Gillespie, due to his coaching track record in County, or Gilchrist as he is the poster-boy of sportsmanship from the past generation of players. Maybe even the pair of them, with Gilchrist cast as more of a mentor and Gillespie the traditional coach.
I think there has been a gradual decline of ethics and behaviour over time, which has led to the situation that the team is now in. It isn't like 2-3 players decided overnight to cheat. I think there needs to be scrutiny at all levels and an emphasis on professional, sportsmanlike conduct.
What this also does now for other teams is show a clear statement of intent - whether you think the penalty is too severe, too lenient, not enough players penalized, what it says is that this is serious and warrants real punishment. ICC needs to revisit rules and other associations now need to either punish as severely or look like they condone the practice.
So Faf should lay off the mints
I would think that more knives will come out in the coming weeks. Probably a lot of blame to go around, and I think Lehmann resigned knowing that more dirt was going to come out on him.
I'm still of the opinion the suspensions are too harsh and in terms of cheating, match fixing > PEDs >>>> ball tampering. I did grow up as a baseball fan though where ball tampering is a part of the game and the only crime is getting caught.
Also, it looks like Warner is being set up as the bad guy in this with stories emerging of him being a loose canon and a bad team mate.
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I'm still of the opinion the suspensions are too harsh and in terms of cheating, match fixing > PEDs >>>> ball tampering. I did grow up as a baseball fan though where ball tampering is a part of the game and the only crime is getting caught.
Also, it looks like Warner is being set up as the bad guy in this with stories emerging of him being a loose canon and a bad team mate.
His PR team was a bit slow as his tearful apology press conference didn't happen until today.
Any news on how to (legally) watch IPL 2018 in Canada? I know that a couple of years ago, Willow.tv carried the matches. Not finding a definitive answer this year.
Any news on how to (legally) watch IPL 2018 in Canada? I know that a couple of years ago, Willow.tv carried the matches. Not finding a definitive answer this year.
+1 on this request. I've been trying to see if some games are on Sportsnet again, but can't find anything so far.
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