I know how you lot love cricket............

Some years ago, when umpiring a district cricket A grade match, I was given the ball after a wicket fell. The wicket came after a long and tiring session for the bowlers. As I caught the ball it felt odd. On closer inspection, one side of the ball had been spat upon so much that it was like soap and a discernible imbalance in weight existed between the two sides of the ball.
Not only that, but you had to wonder if it was a health hazard. Had the term "altering the condition of the ball' existed at that time, I think it would have fitted nicely what had gone on. When I asked the captain what was going on, his reply was that the wicket offered nothing to the bowler and it was the only way they could get the ball to move around........
Cheating in various forms goes on and I've found that the higher the level, the worse it is. It is not always easy to pin down, until that is, the camera captures the act.

 

A blonde woman ran into a police station wailing.She claimed that she had been raped.
After she stopped sobbing,the police officer asked her for a description of the rapist
"He was tall and dressed in white,he was wearing all sorts of protective pads,gloves and helmet".
"Hmmm........appears to be a cricketer," concluded the policeman.
"Ah officer !" she confirmed,"then he must have been an English cricketer".
"What makes you think that he was English ? from the accent? asked the officer.
"no sir," she replied, "he just didn't stay in very long."


Graham.

 

Altering the ball has been refined to an art form in major league baseball.

https://deadspin.com/a-major-league-pitchers-guide-to-doctoring-a-baseball-1562307090

 

Ball tampering has been going on in earnest since Imran Khan's bottle top incident back in 1981. I think that the three Australian players involved will be surprised by the stick they have received from their former colleagues and former players from much greater (in terms of talent and success) Aussie teams.

It is sad for the game, especially test cricket, which is coming under more and more pressure to become more attractive to the younger spectator and new potential audience.

 

I'm just wondering what was on the ball when the Kiwis bowled us all out for 58 recently? and then go in and score over 400.

Graham.

 

Not manure, lanolin.

 

I defer to the experts.

 

I'm wondering here how the Aussie management team can claim no knowledge of this ball tampering scheme by Smith and Warner. If they did know, they should be as much trouble as the players, if they did not know they should be in trouble for not knowing.

 

I guess we will never know what they know even though we know that they do it.??

Graham.

 

Breaking News this morning:

Steve Smith-one year ban

Dave Warner-one year ban

Young Cameron Bancroft-9 months

 

It looks like the real penalty will be in the back pocket. IPL say they have dropped them too, a cool $2.5 mill each for that alone.

 

Now would be a good time to play an ashes series.

Noticed in an aussie book shop, Steve Smith's book has been put in the crime section.

Graham.

 

Joe Niekro was one of the most infamous spit ball pitchers ever to play. This time he caught caught with a nail file in his back pocket. Hilarious

 

They'll do anything in rounders.

 

Would'nt these players have something written into their contracts, should they ever be sacked, then they can claim wages lost until the end of their contract.(like football team managers, they get paid off when sacked)
Just a thought.(even though they admitted cheating)

Graham.

 

In North American sports, the policies around wage suspension are between the League and the Players organization. That collective bargaining agreement supersedes any individual employment contracts.

 

Most probably some form of morals/reputation clause that allows termination. That is the case with many employment contracts, not just sports players.