Convicts v Marxist Land Thieves - Crucket
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What a truly bizarre situation, so many different things happening at the same time.
Method
WTF, not exactly being subtle are they? Trying to sneak something onto the field when a zip/button etc is far easier to explain away.
The media conference
It was bizarre, half a confession, half a case for the defence.
Calling a news conference on the face of it seems like the honest thing to do, nip the entire process in the bud before you lose control of the situation. But what we ended up with lead to more questions than answers, who was is this leadership group, why in this innings and why Bancroft?
And does anyone really believe what Smith said? This is the first time they have done this (there was very early reverse swing in both the PE and Durban test matches and questions were raised about Warner’s bandaged hands on both occasions?
Sticky tape with some dirt on it? I am imagining something like yellow electrical tape. There is no way that you would achieve anything using electrical tape (or similar) to rough up the ball.
Lehman didn’t know anything? That is plainly not true. It is pretty clear that Hanscombe was sent out there to warn shortly after getting signal from Lehman. I don’t think anyone is buying that. So if Smith is throwing the “leadership group” under the bus, why explicitly exclude Lehman?Why call the news conference at all. No one expecting them to confess straight off the bat, why not just give a written statement where you are at least protected from making an ass of yourself and having paper thin lies uncovered so easily.
The reaction from back home
Wow. The prime minister coming out to comment, calls for Smith’s immediate and permanent sacking, it is all a little over the top.
People are saying that the Aussie team has undermined the trust that has been placed in them and sullied the image of the baggy greens forever.
Buuuuuullllllshhhhiiiiitttt.
You have to have a combination of a very short memory and a very blinkered view of the Australian cricket team to think they were unsullied before this incident. I guess it goes back to that famous “line”, but when one of your proudest sons were done for drugs and inappropriate contact with bookies, you can hardly make out as if this is an unprecedented insult to cricketing institution that is the Baggy Greens.
I am just really struggling to understand vitriol that is being directed at the team. They cheated, they got caught, it is embarrassing, but fuck’in hell, the sun is going to come up tomorrow and little Johnny down by the oval is still going to want to play for Australia.WTF is the ICC doing
So when the umpires got the report from the third umpire/match referee I was expecting them to change the ball and award five penalty runs. When they didn’t, I thought, well they didn’t see the evidence, but surely after tea…
Ok maybe not after tea, but after the overnight confession surely they will do something…
In the end it didn’t matter, South Africa won by 300-odd and all was good in the world, but imagine Starc bowled a great spell and blasted out the lower order with a ball that Australia at least attempted to tamper with, what would have happened then?
Then we hear that Bancroft has been found guilty of a level two offence and have been awarded three demerit points. What the ICC is saying is that in their opinion his actions are just culpable as Rabada’s should rub/barge from Port Elizabeth. Really, do we really think those two actions are in the same league?
But it doesn’t really matter, because we all know that Cricket Australia will take sterner action against these miscreants.
That may or may not be the case, but shiver to think what the response would have been if you replace Bancroft with Rahane and Cricket Australia with the BCCI. The internet would have exploded. -
I initially thought that they were tampering with the ball to get it to reverse but there was a guy on Channel Nine yesterday and he seems to think that the Aussies wanted to damage the ball so that it would be replaced with a new one that would hopefully reverse. Any thoughts on this? Video below.
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@akan004 said in Convicts v Marxist Land Thieves - Crucket:
I initially thought that they were tampering with the ball to get it to reverse but there was a guy on Channel Nine yesterday and he seems to think that the Aussies wanted to damage the ball so that it would be replaced with a new one that would hopefully reverse. Any thoughts on this? Video below.
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Can only replace a ball if it goes out of shape. So my thoughts are, shock horror, CH9 are full of it.
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In my uneducated opinion, I dare say there was never a senior players meeting to discuss cheating - Smith made that up to take the heat of a young Cameron Bancroft not realising the outrage that would follow. — Moises Henriques Ps. Not saying no one was aware of Cameron doing it, just highly doubt there was a ‘senior players meeting’ to decide to cheat. I think it was the captain attempting to protect a young player. They had 10 mins of panic between end of play & press conference. — Moises Henriques -
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Exclusive: Darren Lehmann to announce resignation as Australia coach as board considers 12-month bans for Steve Smith and David Warner
Darren Lehmann is expected to announce his resignation as head coach of Australia in the next 24 hours, becoming the first casualty of the ball-tampering scandal.
Darren Lehmann is expected to announce his resignation as head coach of Australia in the next 24 hours, becoming the first casualty of the ball-tampering scandal. Sources in Australia have told Telegraph Sport Lehmann is ready to stand down with immediate effect and his decision is partly why James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, suddenly announced on Monday that he is flying to South Africa. Sutherland is due to meet the players and coaching staff in Johannesburg on Tuesday with a press conference expected that evening when announcements about Lehmann and action against Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft are likely to be announced. Smith and Warner are thought to be facing the prospect of 12-month suspensions from the sport. -
@donsteppa said in Convicts v Marxist Land Thieves - Crucket:
Jason Gillespie:
We need this information and we need it yesterday because I know of at least one senior player who is outraged that they have been dragged into the dirt by association without having been involved at all.Starc and Hazlewood have now been mentioned as those players.
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@sidbarret said in Convicts v Marxist Land Thieves - Crucket:
I am just really struggling to understand vitriol that is being directed at the team. They cheated, they got caught, it is embarrassing, but fuck’in hell, the sun is going to come up tomorrow and little Johnny down by the oval is still going to want to play for Australia.
Sid I think this statement could be applied to more than just the Australian public.
At times like this social media becomes an absolute cesspool, and I've seen some pretty disgusting statements from people of all stripes.
Calls for lifetime bans (out of India and South Africa, mainly) are patently absurd. The shrill hysteria is becoming a little bit much.
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@crucial said in Convicts v Marxist Land Thieves - Crucket:
I suspect that the bad PR advice was on the back of instructions from CA and it backfired badly. They spent an hour or so getting the story lined up before fronting, which I initially suspected was to protect Boof. I think now that they took advice from home on what to do considering the TV deals under negotiation and were told to try to look good by confessing and saying it was a 'one off, won't happen again'. A little bit of arrogance in that regard produced results they didn't see coming.
That's a bit tin-foil hat.
It was just a standard crisis comms strategy. Get out in front of the story, full confession and mea culpa, then strap in and hope you survive the aftershocks.
The CEO admitted he hadn't spoken to Smith or Lehmann as of yesterday morning, so it's highly unlikely they were on the blower to Australia before the post-day presser.
Right now the TV thing has absolutely nothing to do with it. Yes there may be ramifications but even CA realise that it's so much bigger.
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@barbarian said in Convicts v Marxist Land Thieves - Crucket:
@crucial said in Convicts v Marxist Land Thieves - Crucket:
I suspect that the bad PR advice was on the back of instructions from CA and it backfired badly. They spent an hour or so getting the story lined up before fronting, which I initially suspected was to protect Boof. I think now that they took advice from home on what to do considering the TV deals under negotiation and were told to try to look good by confessing and saying it was a 'one off, won't happen again'. A little bit of arrogance in that regard produced results they didn't see coming.
That's a bit tin-foil hat.
It was just a standard crisis comms strategy. Get out in front of the story, full confession and mea culpa, then strap in and hope you survive the aftershocks.
The CEO admitted he hadn't spoken to Smith or Lehmann as of yesterday morning, so it's highly unlikely they were on the blower to Australia before the post-day presser.
Right now the TV thing has absolutely nothing to do with it. Yes there may be ramifications but even CA realise that it's so much bigger.
There’s a media guy for CA that travels with the team so no doubt he would’ve been front and centre prior to the post game interview.
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I really feel for Aussie cricket supporters. Horrendous for your team to be exposed in this manner. And yeah the hysteria is totally over the top. Hopefully a reality check for all involved.
As Bill Shankly should have said - it's not life and death - its much less important than that
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Can't blame the broadcasters for wanting to turn the screws when CAs negotiation approach has been 'we have a premium product and you'll pay bloody well for it thanks'- but that's a side issue to Smith and co's carry on.
Smith is going to carry this for life, whether we think that's fair or not in terms of offending. How wide the stain spreads will depend on the info yet to surface.
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@paekakboyz yeah I saw a headline today with Trevor Chappel saying that it will never leave Smith
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@taniwharugby said in Convicts v Marxist Land Thieves - Crucket:
@paekakboyz yeah I saw a headline today with Trevor Chappel saying that it will never leave Smith
Yeah, case in point about how long the stain lasts: Trevor Chappell. And that was something that was actually legal. I actually feel a bit sorry for him. He was probably thinking, at last, my black moment has been eclipsed and I can fly under the radar. And then every article says 'not since the underarm incident...'
At the very least some senior heads need to roll. This current Aussie team clearly has some major culture issues that a one match ban/fine isn't nearly going to address.
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Lehman expected to resign.
And in a massive shock, it's now being claimed that Warner is the "ringleader"
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@kiwimurph said in Convicts v Marxist Land Thieves - Crucket:
In my uneducated opinion, I dare say there was never a senior players meeting to discuss cheating - Smith made that up to take the heat of a young Cameron Bancroft not realising the outrage that would follow. — Moises Henriques Ps. Not saying no one was aware of Cameron doing it, just highly doubt there was a ‘senior players meeting’ to decide to cheat. I think it was the captain attempting to protect a young player. They had 10 mins of panic between end of play & press conference. — Moises Henriquesthis has to be a joke, surely?
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