Australian cricket commentator Jim Maxwell joined Joe on Off The Ball this evening, to give us an insight into the ball tampering scandal to engulf the Baggy Green.
Cricket Australia’s Chief Executive, James Sutherland, held a press conference on Tuesday evening to announce that captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and batsman Cameron Bancroft have been sent home from their tour in South Africa. This followed their actions during the third test on Saturday, where Bancroft was caught tampering with the ball with an implement subsequently found to be tape. ABC Grandstand commentator Maxwell gave us his thoughts on the situation, and did not hold back.
“It reflects very badly on the leadership and the players involved – it was something that smacked of ignorance and arrogance. It’s kind of been festering for a while with Australia’s aggressive behaviour and a few incidents that have occurred around their opening batsman David Warner. He was ‘chirped’ by a South African in Durban, there were masks made mocking his wife, and then a spectator had a crack at him.
“After that had occurred, David Warner – I think - was the instigator for what occurred when Australia was playing from behind and wanted to catch up. They felt that they had to come up with this ruse to tamper with the ball, and it was a pretty blatant, brazen act – and they got found out by the television cameras. That’s what really sticks in the craw.”
Jim felt that there was an element of farce involved, once the Aussies realised they had been found out.
“The most embarrassing part was when he got the sticky stuff that he was using to pick up a bit of soil to rub against the ball, and someone alerted him to the fact that he had been sighted. He stuck the yellow thing down his jocks! That was probably the most embarrassing part of the whole event, as he attempted to hide the evidence in his jocks! Then the umpires asked him to empty his pockets, and he pulled out something he was using to clean his dark glasses. It was disappointing, if you have a sense of humour, that the third umpire didn’t say ‘Do a strip search!’”
Jim also illuminated the position that the Australian cricket team holds in their society, and pondered the future of Darren Lehmann, the team’s coach.
“There’s no doubt that, historically, the captain of the Australian cricket team is more important than the Prime Minister. So if he steps out of line, it’s big news. Australians don’t mind a bit of ‘larrikinism’, a bit of carry on – but they want people to behave in the right way and not push the limits and cheat. They feel that this is an absolute outrage and disrespect to the game.
“A lot of us are thinking that Darren Lehmann must have been in the know, but there has been no evidence to substantiate that it seems [...] If he’s got no case to answer, then that’s it for the time being.”
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