by sussexpob » Tue Oct 30, 2018 1:16 pm
The fact is, I cant help but feel that Smith isnt being punished for what he did on the field, but he's being punished for uncovering a crisis of conscious in Aussie national identity. When people look at cricket culture, no doubt they want to find parallel in the traditional notion that the game is played fair, honestly, hard, and in a great spirit, and that these values also are endemic in those that come to represent Australia, and are central to mainstream social culture also. When cricket turned out to be rotten to the core, it gets people looking at themselves and thinking more about what it says about them, about society in general. So the reaction has been fierce. Australian's want Smith to pay more for the crimes of others, because they want to show they are morally superior to the rest of the world, turn this into a show of oneupmanship.
Ironically, in trying to show that fairness is a national quality, they have hung out three guys and blasted them with irrational and authoritative punishment. Nothing says "fair" like heat of the moment "let them pay" nonsense. What is fair is that they are treated equally in the eyes of justice, and that the mechanics of justice is proportional to past precedent. None of this happened; celebrating their continued punishment seems like validating a lot of horrible things. Its like a sporting equivalent of celebrating the death penalty, or agreeing with Guantanamo Bay.You cant dispatch with the notions of justice just because you think a certain scapegoat has come along to pummel. There are no exceptions to justice.
Also, is there a great deal of parallel between the team culture and the fans? I am being simultaneous told Smith committed a major crime against the sport, and that this CA win win win culture was evil and absurd, not something compatible with Aussie culture...... then a week ago an Australia keeper ran out a Pakistan batsman who didnt even know the ball was in play, and all the responses form Aussie's here was largely "win win win"..... nothing about the spirit of the game, nothing like that. Is the team culture sh*t because the fans demand it, or the other way round? Chicken or the egg? How caon one judge Smith's morals with such brutality, but then a week later not even acknowledge that spirit of the game exists? Strange ay..... Im not getting at Aussie's by the way. I spend 90% of words on this board in relation to cricket, tearing into the culture of the ECB and English cricket.
Where was the outrage when the last captain threatened physical violence on a tailender? Where was the outrage when one of your players mocked someone with a mental illness? The team culture has been a disgrace for years, its nothing new. The game is no longer a place of gentlemanly conduct, honesty and fair play..... every team plays to win, why uphold the game to some unrealistic standard and view it like its a "Worthers Original" advert environment? I wouldnt be happy as Smith, he's essentially been held account to a higher standard than has existed for decades.
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And a hat and bra to you too, my good sirs!