So...what now???
- Brett Moorgas
- Apr 8, 2018
- 4 min read
Well, let's just put the fact to one side for a minute that the planned podcast hasn't been launched...yet! Thanks.
It has been a couple of weeks now since that Sunday morning that put Australia into an emotional tailspin. Since then, investigations have been made, sanctions have been given (and accepted as of this week), press conferences have been had and there have been plenty of tears. The question is I think for many cricket fans - and those who have been washed up in the wake of this is what now?
However before we get to that, please indulge me with a few observations from the last couple of weeks that I need to get off my chest.
Firstly, the thing that gets me about the whole incident is that the players involved were either extremely arrogant, extremely naive or extremely stupid to think that they could get away with the idea. I think it was a combination of all of the above.
As for who did what, who was the 'ringleader' etc, if you read the statement issued by Cricket Australia it is clear from their investigation as to their view of what happened (see the link below). The actual truth will only come out over the next ten to fifteen years as players retire and write their inevitable autobiographies.
Next is this whole idea about the culture of the Australian Mens Cricket Team. For me, this was an incident over twenty years in the making and it started when Steve Waugh started using the term "Mental Disintegration" as a way of legitimising the sledging that the team would go on with on the field. And it is a strategy that every Australian Captain since has executed with varying degrees of intensity and success. To see former Australian Captains then come out and speak of their disappointment and dismay of what happened just smacks of hypocrisy.
I also believe it has also gone hand in hand with the fact that the Australian team can 'dish it out but can't take it'. I am of the view that when Australia gets behind in a match or heaven forbid that one of the opposition dares to engage in 'banter' on the field (and worse still, backs it up with success with bat or ball) we start to complain, whinge and invariably lose. That's when phrases such as 'spirit of cricket' get a lot of airplay.
As the cricket supporting public (and the most of the general public), we were pretty amazed, shocked, indignant, disappointed, embarrassed etc about what happened. To be fair though, we (myself included) have to accept our share of the blame as well. When we are winning, all is right with the world. When we are losing, heads must roll of the players, selectors or both. Independent reports have to be written, there are too many coaches and support staff, there is too much focus on 20/20 - all these lines are uttered by the media and the public.
When another player or country has complained about how we have played the game, the phrases 'there is a line there and we stay on the right side of it' and 'what happens on the field should stay on the field' always get a run.
In short, we have accepted and condoned the way this team has played the game and it's decline for quite some time now so we have to be very careful about how judgmental we are at this point.
So now that the dust has settled somewhat and the players involved are not appealing their sanctions, what happens next for Australian Cricket?
Well, first and foremost everyone should remember what happened the day after all hell broke loose in Cape Town; when things were so dire that the Prime Minister of Australia felt compelled to make a statement about the events and the emotional response by the majority of the country was something I have never seen before and something I believe was completely over the top (which is a topic for a whole other post/podcast...but that's for another day).
On the Monday, the sun rose and a new day began.
It also happened the next day after Greg Chappell ordered brother Trevor to bowl underarm. It happened when a group of Australia's finest decided to go on a rebel tour of South Africa in 1985 and it happened when Australia lost the Ashes in 2005. My point being that Australian Cricket (players, administration and fans alike) just has to keep moving forward.
What does that mean?
It means that Tim Paine is now the Australian Captain and he and his team should be given all the support he needs from the selectors, administration and the public.
It means that we will do it tough without two of Australia's best batsmen and realistically, it means that we will lose more games than we will win in over the next twelve months or so. If you don't think that is the case then take out Steve Smith's performances out of the Ashes Series this summer and have a think about what the results would have been then. That's our penance - take it or leave it.
It means that during this time, we will try new players or give others another go which can only be a good thing in building experience for these players, the depth of talent we have at an international level and to be honest, working out who is going to be successful at that level and who wont be. We did that in the mid-1980's and we will do that again.
What it shouldn't mean is that we have to call Michael Clarke out of retirement. If that happens, we have learnt nothing!
I love the game of cricket - have done so since I was very small and still do so to this day. However (and at risk of sounding like a grumpy old man) we must all remember how we got to this point and ensure that we all take our own steps forward to ensure that we don't end up again in the same place where Australian Cricket is now. Rock bottom.
But - as the great philosopher Yazz once said "The only way is up!".