The mighty have fallen!

The banning of a trio of Australian cricketers for a full year on May 28^th is proof of the increasing frailty of international cricketers against the huge pressure of success in the gentlemen’s game. No longer is such frailty associated with Asian cricketers alone. The entire canvas of players across the world is vulnerable. Just as the temptation of big money is overpowering for some, there is an equally intense desire to succeed for others. Winning, it seems, is the only option available and any other result isn’t good enough. The verdict of Cricket Australia on Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft — who figured in the ball-tampering saga in the Cape Town Test against South Africa — came in slow motion.

A 12-month ban for their roles in the pre-meditated plan to tamper with the ball may be a fitting penalty for the trio but neither Australia nor the world of cricket is quite finished with them. Smith as skipper and Warner as his deputy risk losing their leadership roles permanently in the Australian side. They have besmirched the name of Australia and like others before them stained the world of cricket. The game’s administrators in Australia, as expected, looked hard into the conduct and culture of their players and found something deeply amiss. They also began to introspectively study the behavior of administrators themselves. Such reviews are useful not just for Team Australia but also for other teams and players — provided of course other cricket boards and administrators are willing to remedy all the ills that have crept into the game. It is important to restore the faith of millions of cricket fans and followers who until this month were looking at Australia’s reputation for its hard-nosed, no-nonsense approach to foul play in the sport. 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2018.

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