Keep sooking Jonny

[kickazz]

Prior to Cape Town when we were dumb enough to listen to David Warner I think ball tampering had been a fairly creative arms race for a long time. Now nobody dares try it on.

It took an over the top sanction from CA to do that, too. Prior to that, the ICC two and three game suspensions were not much of a deterrent.

 

[Rabish Binney]

Can someone answer me this. I genuinely am struggling to see the difference.

Taking a lolly and putting it on the ball - yes.

sucking a lolly to make your spit more plentiful and sugary? When players have knowing chewed gum for the same reason for decades - I don’t get the difference. That’s not an Australia/england thing, that’s a genuine question.

That’s the only reason I ever chewed gum in cricket, to shine the ball. What’s the difference?

Don’t forget the Brylcreem in the hair in days gone by !

 

[sherb]

Of course it was different when the English did it..................hypocrites they are, spirit of cricket my arse, they've been crapping on it on and off since the days of WG Grace.

 

[Gethelred]

I’m not claiming it is good sportsmanship and the mask thing in particular was one of the lowest things I can recall seeing associated to a sporting arena and I actively SUPPORT South Africa to some degree. It was a disgrace.

But I still don’t see how any of this makes Stokes a bad captain or leader anymore than someone like Steve Waugh was a ‘bad captain’ in the past (he wasn’t - he was a good captain) when he extolled the whole ‘we play hard but fair and don’t cross the line’ when clearly they did from time to time.

A leader sets the agenda, the method for doing things. They decide the terms of engagement. In cricket, your captain decides whether you're a bunch of ****wits, or you're decent human beings as well as good cricketers.

It's one thing to actively try and hit you with a short one, while it's completely another to aim for the centre of my back instead of the stumps if you don't think you can run me out. It's one thing to have a regular column in the Times or the Guardian or the News of the World; it's quite another for half your XI to use their column to attack their direct opposition's character, method and integrity.

I liked aspects of Waugh's captaincy, but one of the things I didn't like was mental disintegration.

In my opinion, the leader is responsible for his team's conduct, good or bad. You cannot separate the good from the bad; doing so is akin to judging a bat by their centuries and not their failures.

 

[kickazz]

Of course it was different when the English did it..................hypocrites they are, spirit of cricket my arse, they've been crapping on it on and off since the days of WG Grace.

No ball. Fielder on the pitch

 

[worbod]

He was out for a golden duck last Thursday in the final county game of the season. Will this be a fitting farewell to first class cricket?