Arthur Crabtree wrote:...no Reeve was just personal use. Lewis was for smuggling coke. So I guess worse than Stuey, if he did it.
In my personal opinion, I think the penalities for smuggling drugs in that way are incredibly harsh, because the type of person who accepts to carry 3kg of cocaine in their luggage through an airport is not exactly a criminal mastermind , more often than not under some form of extreme duress, and a certain level of vulnerability or desperation is required to even consider it. Sending Lewis to prison for 15 years wouldnt even register any form of minor blip on the operations of some high level gangster dealers. Probably controversial to some, but I would be inclined to give people in that situation very light token sentences. Similar sentences to rapists and murderers is somewhat insane to me, considering the context.
Lewis' story was somewhat tragic. Bumble and Nasser once said in 1999 for the WC, he was one of the first names on the team sheet, but Graveney had beef with Lewis and singled him out unfairly for a few very minor disciplinary instances (like turning up for training 5 minutes late a couple of times). His career for England ended abruptly, then his career in CC also ended in his early 30s. He had no other skills or education, so sort of became a nomad wandering around odd jobs and stuff. Lewis then said when T20 cricket came about, he invested all of his life savings into going away and getting fit, wanting to make a comeback.... then having got himself into the position of being offered a contract, got a bad injury and the contract offer was withdrawn.... he had put everything he had into it, so was left broke. And then an opportunity to make a quick buck presented itself, and he stupidly took it. I think now he works with cricketers in the first class game to teach them about planning their lives after the game, which I think was a good thing for the PCA to have done. I wish him well after his prison sentence.
MacGill is different. He was always the most middle class cricketer ever, the Aussie's back in the day used to ridiculue him for being so. He went to University and has a degree in wine making. I think he came from a bit of money. He had a career to fall back on..... I have far less sympathy with someone with options choosing crime as an option, rather than someone who has no options choosing it as a last resort