Page 12 of 15

Re: Australia in South Africa in 2018.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 8:04 pm
by from_the_stands
m@tt wrote:Personally, I'd have gone with 6-9ish month bans, whatever puts them out of the (Aussie) winter tours and IPL. Allow them to come back for the next domestic season.

There are a few elements to the severity of the ban. It includes the stain on Australian cricket's image, and the in-progress media/broadcast negotiations. Then there's also the post-day press conference where they tried to come clean - there were a couple of statements that were misleading and the press release today says this was deliberate. That may well have turned the ban from 6 months to 1 year.

Overall, just one massive screw up and something cricket doesn't need. Whatever people think of Warner he's a damn good cricketer and Smith is just ridiculously good. It's a shame that they've screwed up their careers like this. Not beyond redemption, they can still add to their Test caps but how much will this change how they're remembered?


I think the problem with being allowed to come back for the home season is that the Australian public might not be ready, and as such, many would turn their backs on the game. I'm sure that many already have over this. Aussie crowds can be very savage toward certain individuals. And to add fuel to that, we have in this country a mindset set we love to build up our heroes, but we equally love tearing them down - this is referred to as "Tall Poppy Syndrome." Given the damage that this will do to our game, Oz crowds will need some time to forgive, and some may never forgive.

The public reaction can perhaps best be explained by taking a look at some events that preceded this current fiasco. It was less than 9 months ago that we had the very public standoff over central contracts. At one point, the Ashes were in jeopardy until the players demands were met. So basically we have a bunch of ridiculously over paid Prima Donna's who go on strike because their 7 figure salaries are not enough, then proceed to act like prats on and off the field, before finally finally deciding to cheat, popping down to Bunning's to buy some sandpaper, (and a couple of snags in bread too probably, if it were done on a Saturday) and recruiting the junior member of the team to carry out the darstardly deed. We've had the Clarke v Twatto saga, Then there was the Warner-Root punch on in an English pub, and before that we had Homeworkgate, where essentially, four players were suspended for their perceived lack of professionalism, and ultimately coach Mickey Arthur was fed to the lions. There was the Clarke-Katich dust up, which cost Katich his central contract. We had Punter v the Indians, Bucknorgate, Monkeygate, Squashballgate, the I've gone fishing-gate.

The Australian team has been a circus for too long, and the Australian public have had enough. Sandpapergate was the straw that broke the camel's back. And as we've seen today, Darren Lehmann, who was not charged by CA or the ICC, has resigned. The Oz public wanted blood, and that's exactly what they've got. The thing is, the clown who came up with this moronic idea has been inconspicuously tight lipped about the whole affair. Dave Warner is probably sitting in his waterside mansion waiting for his maid to serve him avocado toast for breakfast, before taking his Lamborghini for a spin down to the yacht club.

As for redemption, I think Steve Smith & Cameron Bancroft will work hard to achieve it. For Warner, as great a player as he was, his international career is over. The masses here will never forgive him. He may even end up moving to a tax haven, like Vanuatu, or the Cayman Islands. His goose is cooked.

Re: Australia ball-tampering scandal

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 8:27 pm
by budgetmeansbudget
Does anyone believe that what they were trying to do would actually have any effect on the ball? Very unlikely.

A dumb plan with little chance of success carried out in full view of countless TV cameras has cost these guys their careers and a ton of money. I'm guessing their IQs fall somewhere in the severe mental retardation zone.

Re: Australia ball-tampering scandal

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 8:34 pm
by sussexpob
budgetmeansbudget wrote:Does anyone believe that what they were trying to do would actually have any effect on the ball? Very unlikely


I have read that South African TV commentators have made comments all series about how early in the innings the Aussies were getting reverse swing, and the widely reported outcome was that Fanie De Villiers is quoted as claiming to have spoken to the TV crew to keep a close eye on the Aussie fielders, at which stage they caught Bancroft.

Using sandpaper on a ball thats still hard and shiny on one side, id imagine has a very positive effect on chances of reverse.

Re: Australia ball-tampering scandal

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 8:37 pm
by sussexpob
From Sky website....

De Villiers told RSN Radio: "I said earlier on that, if they could get reverse swing in the 26th, 27th, 28th over, then they are doing something different from what everyone else does.

"We actually said to our cameramen, 'go out, have a look boys. They're using something'.

"They searched for an hour and a half until they saw something and then they started following Bancroft, and they actually caught him out at the end.

Re: Australia ball-tampering scandal

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 8:56 pm
by budgetmeansbudget
Sticky tape and dirt I heard. What size grain was the dirt? I can't see it having much effect except to get the ball sticky and lead to a slower ball release from the bowler.

Why not take a large grain piece of glass paper out on the field in the first place? Am I missing something? They aren't strip searched before they enter the field of play are they?

If you're going to cheat at least do it properly!

Re: Australia ball-tampering scandal

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 8:59 pm
by sussexpob
budgetmeansbudget wrote:Sticky tape and dirt I heard. What size grain was the dirt? I can't see it having much effect except to get the ball sticky and lead to a slower ball release from the bowler.


Bancroft's original explanation has been admitted to be a lie. He had sandpaper on him.

Re: Australia ball-tampering scandal

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 9:18 pm
by Durhamfootman
budgetmeansbudget wrote:Does anyone believe that what they were trying to do would actually have any effect on the ball? Very unlikely.

A dumb plan with little chance of success carried out in full view of countless TV cameras has cost these guys their careers and a ton of money. I'm guessing their IQs fall somewhere in the severe mental retardation zone.

unless they've done it, and got away with it, before

Re: Australia ball-tampering scandal

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 9:21 pm
by Durhamfootman
and nobody else has been hammered like these players before... match fee fine and miss a match or two.

I'm hoping that seeing the public humiliation of Smith and Bancroft, and the anger directed at them, will do far more to discourage other players from trying stuff than anything the ICC has ever managed to do

Re: Australia ball-tampering scandal

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 9:23 pm
by Arthur Crabtree
England got reverse swing from about 20 overs at the MCG and SCG in 2011-12...

I remember some time ago when two teams played a friendly (one of them was Kent under Key) pre-season when they agreed to openly ball tamper. The choice of tools was sandpaper.

Re: Australia ball-tampering scandal

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 9:50 pm
by GarlicJam
Durhamfootman wrote:
budgetmeansbudget wrote:Does anyone believe that what they were trying to do would actually have any effect on the ball? Very unlikely.

A dumb plan with little chance of success carried out in full view of countless TV cameras has cost these guys their careers and a ton of money. I'm guessing their IQs fall somewhere in the severe mental retardation zone.

unless they've done it, and got away with it, before

From the incredibly amateurish way they carried this out, I have my doubts that they had been doing it like this before.

Re: Australia ball-tampering scandal

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 9:51 pm
by GarlicJam
sussexpob wrote:From Sky website....

De Villiers told RSN Radio: "I said earlier on that, if they could get reverse swing in the 26th, 27th, 28th over, then they are doing something different from what everyone else does.

"We actually said to our cameramen, 'go out, have a look boys. They're using something'.

"They searched for an hour and a half until they saw something and then they started following Bancroft, and they actually caught him out at the end.

Does anyone else feel any unease about this?

Re: Australia ball-tampering scandal

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 9:56 pm
by budgetmeansbudget
Pictures I saw of the yellow object looked like a piece of yellow plastic, so after what Sussex said, suggests they stuck the sand paper onto tape, is that right?

DFM is right in a way, these guys have been absolutely slammed for this, when it has clearly happened many times before, by various means. Picking at the seam, scuffing the ball on the ground, substances concealed in saliva.

Is it because it's Australia, the most successful cricketimg nation in the history of the game, and the fact those involved are not nice characters.

I feel certain if it had been Cook and Root the slaughter would have been very similar.

Re: Australia ball-tampering scandal

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 10:00 pm
by sussexpob
budgetmeansbudget wrote: I feel certain if it had been Cook and Root the slaughter would have been very similar.


No, in England the biggest crime is whistling. Do with the ball what you want, just dont whistle while doing it

Re: Australia ball-tampering scandal

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 10:01 pm
by sussexpob
budgetmeansbudget wrote:Pictures I saw of the yellow object looked like a piece of yellow plastic, so after what Sussex said, suggests they stuck the sand paper onto tape, is that right?


No idea. All I know is he seems to have had something black to show the umpire in case questioned. Seems remarkably stupid to use something bright yellow.

Re: Australia ball-tampering scandal

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 10:03 pm
by sussexpob
GarlicJam wrote: Does anyone else feel any unease about this?


From what angle? The fact it was a bit of a punt meaning it could happen far more, or that the Saffers were looking hard for it?