South Africa vs Australia: Cricket Australia needs to follow in Adam Gilchrist's footsteps
The spirit of the game
Discussions on the spirit of cricket have been quite frequent in the last decade and a half. Every player or captain comes up with this whenever he is pushed to the corner. Yet, everybody, with no exception violates it.
Be it excessive appealing even after knowing the batsman is not out or not walking when the TV replays show the batsman was out. The Test match in Cape Town had more than the spirit of cricket to be spoken about. The ingrained culture and the attitude of the players were in question.
Every cricketer would have great reverence for his international cap. Integrity, pride, and commitment should be a synonym of being right to any individual offering his services to the nation.
Australia's and their brain-fades
The same right was in question in the 3rd test between Australia and South Africa. The team involved in the nauseating act of tampering the ball, earlier had tried to insidiously utilize the DRS system in India to their own benefit.
The reaction from the Prime Minister of Australia was unexpected albeit reactions from the cricket board of Australia were swift. Not many Australian cricket fans like it but Steve Smith and his leadership team were caught on cameras cheating.
Cricket cannot have a Utopian like vision, which the Prime Minister would love to have; that is too much to ask for. But, cricket can have a system which penalizes such incidents in the most rightful manner which sets precedent to others.
Australian cricket team brings a myriad of sequences when it comes to sledging or the Waugh-esque method of mental disintegration. The same Aussies are also modeled by many in the cricketing world for their tough cricket and never say die attitude.
Over the course of time viewers around the world have identified Aussies to go deep and find themselves in a hole in many instances. It is quite evident, the team from down under isn’t particularly respected by cricket lovers. Also, the backlash by their fans after the ball tampering incident has been snobbish to say the least.
The brain-fade moment and the ball tampering incident give an indication of the culture that is brewing in the dressing room. The worst part of the horrendous act in both the cases was that Steven Smith and Darren Lehman seemed to not learn much.
Smith in India brushed of saying it as brain fade whereas in South Africa he disqualifies stepping down as captain and feels he is the right person for the job. The post fiasco activity from the Captain Coach duo has not been appreciable at all.
Even if Lehman and Smith decided to resign from their respective positions the same would not have the weight unless they had made a sensible talking couple of days back.
The Gilchrist way
It was Adam Gilchrist, the star-struck left-handed batsman-keeper who was one of the proponents of walking when he felt he was out. One of the true gentlemen of the game, Gilchrist was an embodiment of fair play and ethical morality. The Australian cricket team right now needs to follow in his footsteps now.
Yes, the path needs a reset button to be pressed and some harsh decisions to be taken. The path this time needs a solid foundation of integrity, pride, and commitment with a more mature and responsible behavior by the leadership team.