The Cricket thread

[AQMP]

What does everyone make of this Australian ball tampering scandal.? Whilst the guys have overstepped the mark I think the reaction and punishments which followed are a bit over the top. Year long suspensions and loss of lucrative playing contracts in the IPL, is this really that severe of an offence?

One or two games suspensions with a hefty fine and the loss of captaincy/vc would have been enough IMO.

The coach has also decided to step down now.

Felt sorry for Steve Smith in the interview with him in tears. Give the guy a break.

No sympathy for any of them.  Aussie bowling legend Jeff Thomson said they should have been banned for life.

[Orchard park]

Absolutely clueless again from the Ireland management and captaincy. Obviously a track for spinners and we bowled 29.1 overs of seam including the expensive McCarthy in the last few overs. Left Dockrell (out of form but still would have enjoyed these conditions) on the bench. Didn't give Stirling (a spinner) a bowl at all. Our best bowler today didn't play early in the tournament against WI and Zimbabwe where we made the same mistakes of favouring average seamers (or slow medium pacers) over decent spinners. Our best two bowlers today were our two spinners.

We didn't bat well throughout the tournament (Joyce wasn't able to play today) either but batted well enough if we'd used the right bowling tactics. Spin was hard to hit....if you gave the batsman pace to work with it was easier.

We had loads of chances to get though and made a balls of them all. Not good enough.

where else would one get a Sligo man discussing cricket.............dont let syferus on this thread, its the kind of one he would specialise on with zero knowledge of the topic

[rosnarun]

I cant understand it at all
a sport that invented 'sledging' getting on it high horse over a bit of cheating .
not to mention several cases of drug cheats and its long time companions bribery and game throwing ,
and of course the originator of the destruction of international sport by getting people to change nationality at the drop of a hat lets add the racism of the apartheid tours to the charge sheet and  the inherent snobbery and class dicisions in the game and  they get their knickers in a twist over a bit of over rubbing of the ball.
am  I missing something

[magpie seanie]

What does everyone make of this Australian ball tampering scandal.? Whilst the guys have overstepped the mark I think the reaction and punishments which followed are a bit over the top. Year long suspensions and loss of lucrative playing contracts in the IPL, is this really that severe of an offence?

One or two games suspensions with a hefty fine and the loss of captaincy/vc would have been enough IMO.

The coach has also decided to step down now.

Felt sorry for Steve Smith in the interview with him in tears. Give the guy a break.

No sympathy for any of them.  Aussie bowling legend Jeff Thomson said they should have been banned for life.

Absolutely agree. Smith's crocodile tears don't have any impact on me. I'm glad this has happened to Australia. If it was some Pakistani or Indian they'd be the first to pile in about the integrity of the game blah, blah. They're horrific sports and I'm delighted they've been found out. This will haunt their own sense of self for a long time. You just cannot tamper with the cricket ball.....it's well understood by anyone will any knowledge of the game.

[magpie seanie]

Absolutely clueless again from the Ireland management and captaincy. Obviously a track for spinners and we bowled 29.1 overs of seam including the expensive McCarthy in the last few overs. Left Dockrell (out of form but still would have enjoyed these conditions) on the bench. Didn't give Stirling (a spinner) a bowl at all. Our best bowler today didn't play early in the tournament against WI and Zimbabwe where we made the same mistakes of favouring average seamers (or slow medium pacers) over decent spinners. Our best two bowlers today were our two spinners.

We didn't bat well throughout the tournament (Joyce wasn't able to play today) either but batted well enough if we'd used the right bowling tactics. Spin was hard to hit....if you gave the batsman pace to work with it was easier.

We had loads of chances to get though and made a balls of them all. Not good enough.

where else would one get a Sligo man discussing cricket.............dont let syferus on this thread, its the kind of one he would specialise on with zero knowledge of the topic

Ya - was always sport mad and often the only sport on TV when I was a kid (certainly during the day on Thursday or Friday) was this eccentric looking game with funny rules and terms. Being a sports fanatic I made it my business to find out how it worked and I'm hooked ever since.

[andoireabu]

What does everyone make of this Australian ball tampering scandal.? Whilst the guys have overstepped the mark I think the reaction and punishments which followed are a bit over the top. Year long suspensions and loss of lucrative playing contracts in the IPL, is this really that severe of an offence?

One or two games suspensions with a hefty fine and the loss of captaincy/vc would have been enough IMO.

The coach has also decided to step down now.

Felt sorry for Steve Smith in the interview with him in tears. Give the guy a break.

No sympathy for any of them.  Aussie bowling legend Jeff Thomson said they should have been banned for life.

Absolutely agree. Smith's crocodile tears don't have any impact on me. I'm glad this has happened to Australia. If it was some Pakistani or Indian they'd be the first to pile in about the integrity of the game blah, blah. They're horrific sports and I'm delighted they've been found out. This will haunt their own sense of self for a long time. You just cannot tamper with the cricket ball.....it's well understood by anyone will any knowledge of the game.

From someone who has no knowledge of the game really, I assume that the sandpaper would change how the ball reacts when it hits the ground, but would rubbing the ball on their trouser leg not do the same thing but with a different outcome? Are both acts not intended to change the balls behaviour?

[Owen Brannigan]

What does everyone make of this Australian ball tampering scandal.? Whilst the guys have overstepped the mark I think the reaction and punishments which followed are a bit over the top. Year long suspensions and loss of lucrative playing contracts in the IPL, is this really that severe of an offence?

One or two games suspensions with a hefty fine and the loss of captaincy/vc would have been enough IMO.

The coach has also decided to step down now.

Felt sorry for Steve Smith in the interview with him in tears. Give the guy a break.

No sympathy for any of them.  Aussie bowling legend Jeff Thomson said they should have been banned for life.

Absolutely agree. Smith's crocodile tears don't have any impact on me. I'm glad this has happened to Australia. If it was some Pakistani or Indian they'd be the first to pile in about the integrity of the game blah, blah. They're horrific sports and I'm delighted they've been found out. This will haunt their own sense of self for a long time. You just cannot tamper with the cricket ball.....it's well understood by anyone will any knowledge of the game.

From someone who has no knowledge of the game really, I assume that the sandpaper would change how the ball reacts when it hits the ground, but would rubbing the ball on their trouser leg not do the same thing but with a different outcome? Are both acts not intended to change the balls behaviour?

The current holy grail for fast bowlers is reverse swing where the ball moves horizontally as it goes through the air and fools the batsman as to where it will be as he aims to hit it, all happening with a ball moving 70 to 90 mph. To get this effect, on hemisphere of the ball is treated differently from the other. Legally this can be done by simple rubbing the ball. Reverse swing is possible when one side is roughened up hence sugar or sandpaper. It can be done pseudo legally by firing it back to bowler and ensuring it hits the rough on the wicket.

[TabClear]

What does everyone make of this Australian ball tampering scandal.? Whilst the guys have overstepped the mark I think the reaction and punishments which followed are a bit over the top. Year long suspensions and loss of lucrative playing contracts in the IPL, is this really that severe of an offence?

One or two games suspensions with a hefty fine and the loss of captaincy/vc would have been enough IMO.

The coach has also decided to step down now.

Felt sorry for Steve Smith in the interview with him in tears. Give the guy a break.

No sympathy for any of them.  Aussie bowling legend Jeff Thomson said they should have been banned for life.

Absolutely agree. Smith's crocodile tears don't have any impact on me. I'm glad this has happened to Australia. If it was some Pakistani or Indian they'd be the first to pile in about the integrity of the game blah, blah. They're horrific sports and I'm delighted they've been found out. This will haunt their own sense of self for a long time. You just cannot tamper with the cricket ball.....it's well understood by anyone will any knowledge of the game.

From someone who has no knowledge of the game really, I assume that the sandpaper would change how the ball reacts when it hits the ground, but would rubbing the ball on their trouser leg not do the same thing but with a different outcome? Are both acts not intended to change the balls behaviour?

I think its  to do with airpressure over a ball with one rough half and one smooth half creating uneven drag thats makes the ball movement unpredictable. Not sure why this is different to normal swing that happens when the ball is newer (other than it tends to move the opposite direction)

[magpie seanie]

Conventional swing is to do with the alignment of the seam and the rough side of the ball. Reverse swing can occur later on when the ball gets more worn all over.....happens later in the balls trajectory and a more significant movement typically.

[David McKeown]

I would have no problem with the bans and fines etc if there was precedence for it but there doesn't seem to be. Also the ICC's authority seems to have been usurped massively here which is a dangerous precendent. Correct me if I'm wrong but the ICC gave punishments of Demerit points or one game bans. Cricket Australia have effectively upped those to worldwide bans of between 9 months and a year. I don't think that's particularly fair.

[An Watcher]

Something tells me this is rife in the sport but these boys have been found out.  Made it a little too obvious.  Do the Aussies no harm as their arrogance in sport is annoying

[magpie seanie]

I severely doubt it's rife. Far too easy to spot.

[TabClear]

I severely doubt it's rife. Far too easy to spot.

Same as that. I saw the tv pictures of it and couldn't believe how obvious it was.

[An Watcher]

I disagree,  don't think it's just something that the Aussies came up with

[TabClear]

I disagree,  don't think it's just something that the Aussies came up with

Neither do I I just think there are degrees of how you can do this. You are allowed to use sweat/saliva/clothing to polish the ball. So people try to game it by sucking mints/using a particular brand of sunscreen/using a particular type of fabric in pockets etc etc. These are borderline actions but to bring a piece of sandpaper out with you is crazy