Cheating has been the forefront of our thoughts this past week. We have been disappointed to hear of our national cricket team cheating in the current series being played in South Africa.
Some might say what’s the fuss over a game? For many of us cricket is synonymous with being Australian. We grew up playing our versions of test matches in our backyards, later we played in school boy competitions within our local communities and all the while we looked up to our national team, they were our heroes, playing a game held up as a challenge between bat and ball but played competitively and always within the rules, even though at times they could be stretched.
If we were not good enough on the day, then we lost and there was always next week to look forward to. Our current team has ripped that ideal away from us. They conspired to flout the rules of the game and bring shame on us all.
Cricket is a game with a great history. In the 1930s during the bodyline era the animosity between the Australian team and England could have at the time damaged relations between the two countries.
However, I remember the Centenary Test in 1976 in Melbourne when the two bowlers from the Bodyline series, Harold Larwood and Bill Voce, by then old men, were presented to the crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. They received a standing ovation; I still think it is one of the most moving things I’ve seen in cricket.
Today our sense of fairness, playing a game for the fun of playing is in tatters. We need to clean up our act. The sledging that occurs has correctly been compared to bullying and has to stop.
I remember hearing a story that during one series against the West Indies the Australian players learnt quickly that there was little point in sledging West Indian batsman Brian Lara. Yes they did get him out eventually, but Brian would have 150-200 runs beside his name by the time they did.
I can only hope the players who survive this disgrace are able to resurrect the passion we all feel for this wonderful game.