Not cricket...

I’m rather nonplussed about the ball-tampering episode, described in Saturday’s Guardian as perhaps “the darkest day in Australian cricket history”. In 2018 batsmen tend not to walk when they’ve nicked a ball to the slips. They stand their ground and wait for the umpire to make a decision. If the umpire didn’t hear the nick, or failed to see the ball deviate, the batsman will know he’s got away with it. Cheating? Probably. A fielder takes a catch very close to the ground. Did the ball ‘carry’? Umpires used to take a fielder’s word as to whether the catch was good or the ball touched the ground. Now we rely on slo-mo replays… which tend to be inconclusive.

Cricketers have many ways of altering the condition of the ball (to make it swing or seam). They can shine one side (using sweat, and a rub on the trousers) and scuff up the other side. This is reckoned to be OK. But no bottle-tops in the pocket, or any other ‘agent’ to alter the condition of the ball (which is what the TV camera’s caught Aussie player, Cameron Bancroft, doing. Then, while cameras were trained on him, he tried to stuff the evidence down his trousers). In the spirit of the game? Probably not, and the shit really has hit the fan, as the captain and vice captain have had to relinquish their role (for the remainder of the game). Worse is yet to come, and the boorish behaviour of the Aussie team in recent years will no doubt be alluded to.

It looked like a storm in a teacup to me, and the media outcry rather hysterical (especially in Australia). After a wholehearted apology, I thought we’d be back to normal. But this bizarre little saga looks to continue. I’m not sure I really understand what all the fuss is about. In terms of damaging the spirit of the game, many behaviours seem worse to me: trying to con an umpire, disputing an umpire's decisions, boorish ‘sledging’, bowling bouncers at tail-end batsmen, etc. I did learn something new from the incident: I wasn’t aware that Cricket Australia had such a post as ‘Head of Integrity’. He’s going to have a busy few days…

Train on viaduct in Sowerby Bridge...