Originally appeared in Dunya Opinion
The departures continue.
Captain, Vice-Captain, Coach and the youngest player in the squad – all have either been banned or have resigned from the Australian Test Cricket team in a span of 5 days. Even though the scale and category of offences differ, this is the biggest storm to have rocked the cricketing community since the infamous Spot Fixing Scandal of 2010. The only difference is that the disgraced Captain from 2010 still tries to own and keep up that I-was-part-of-a-big-conspiracy image while the other one broke down in front of the national media. The only probable casualty left in this saga is James Sutherland, the long serving Chief Executive of Cricket Australia. It won’t come as a surprise if he ends up resigning as well because, after all, he joined CA around the same time when the current era of dominance started with appointment of Steve Waugh as Captain.
Waugh inherited a team which had the potential to go on and win everything and they did just that. He had the world’s best fast bowler, the world’s greatest leg spinner, the world’s best wicket-keeper-batsman, and a prolific batting line-up. They did not need anything else to win and yet, Waugh inculcated a different mentality in his team. Something he called “mental disintegration”, a culture where the team will do everything possible to win a match. Former South African Captain Graeme Smith, only 20 back then, was at the receiving end of such abuses and comments hurled at him. There were high profile cases like Glenn McGrath vs. Ramnaresh Sarwan under Waugh’s watch and things did not improve much under Ricky Ponting as in the case of Darren Lehmann's racist outburst against the Sri Lankans. Lehmann was eventually banned for 5 matches by the ICC while CA kept quiet on the matter. Then there was the infamous Harbanjhan Singh vs Andrew Symonds episode in 2008. While situations have many perspectives, the fact remains that the Aussies were involved in such serious altercations more often than the rest of the world.
Australia is a sports loving nation which has a proud record in all major sports. It is a nation where sportspersons are revered, honoured and scrutinised with stricter criteria than others. After all, they wrote Don Bradman’s name in the national legislation so that no company could name itself after him without government permission. Under Waugh, they became a team which tasted success in all parts of the world, but their attitude and behaviour was never appreciated. They were winners but not favourites. They claimed they never crossed “the line” but then again, it was never clear what exactly “the line” was. They kept redefining the line and made it about Australia vs the World.
Ball tampering is not a new phenomenon in international cricket. Numerous legends of the game have been accused of and often punished for this offence. A quick glance at the list will reveal names like Younis Khan, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Shahid Afridi and Faf Du Plessis. Ball tampering exists at all levels of cricket and every team is/has been involved in it. Usually it’s not done by just one player rather it is a team effort where every player is fulfilling their part as they exchange the ball in between breaks. There is no denying its existence and the maximum penalty by the ICC for such offence is a ban from 1 Test or 2 T20Is.
The current incident is perhaps the culmination of Australian people’s frustration with their team’s attitude over the years. This is not about ball tampering anymore; this is about representing a nation of 35 million. This is why the Australian Government was swift in its response. The public outcry followed by sponsors pulling out have resulted in banning Captain Smith and Vice-Captain Warner for 12 months while national coach Darren Lehmann has resigned.
Warner has been stated as the person who came up with this idea but it was the culture which led his captain and a new comer to believe that they can get away with it. There are valid questions if this was really the first time it ever happened. As Stuart Broad, victim of an abusive campaign initiated by Darren Lehmann during the Ashes commented: why would Australia change their ball management tactics when they just came back from a 4-0 victory over England using reverse swing. Steve Smith didn’t realise the gravity of the situation and saw no reason to resign; he was made to step down in the middle of a match. Darren Lehmann was cleared but if he really didn’t know about it then it seriously undermines his influence and authority over the team where his own Captain and Vice-Captain are up to such things without his knowledge.
A popular and common trend on social media forums was turning this event and its aftermath into a racial issue, especially in its comparison to the punishment the Pakistani players received in 2010. One clearly needs to understand that the maximum penalty for ball tampering under ICC law is a ban from 1 Test or 2 T20Is. The players were handed the maximum penalty along with the demerit points and fines. One simply cannot equate this with spot fixing. A Captain encouraging his bowler to bowl a no-ball and get money for it should never be allowed to play cricket and yet, here we are.
Cricket Australia has actually surprised many by giving such harsh sentences but they have also set a very high precedent. Both Smith and Warner were at the peak of their respective careers, especially with Smith smashing records in Bradmanesque style. The situation is highly unfortunate but they have accepted their mistake and asked for forgiveness so there should be no abuse sent towards them. If anything this should be an opportunity for CA to start the drive to change the prevailing culture and go back to the days when cricket was a gentleman’s game.
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