In May of 2003 following a typically “ugly” incident involving an Australian cricketer – in this case Glenn McGrath swearing in the face of West Indies vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan – Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland was moved to ring then-Australia captain Steve Waugh in Antigua and remind him of the Spirit of Cricket document that Waugh and vice-captain Ricky Ponting had only recently co-authored with Sutherland and Bob Merriman, then chairman of the Australian Cricket Board.
The gist of Sutherland’s message to Waugh was this: the world was watching, and Waugh should instruct his men to have a look at themselves, too. “It’s all very well to be playing the game in the right spirit when things are going your way but if things don’t go your way, that’s when the real test is on. And if you can’t carry yourself in the right fashion, in the true spirit of the game at those times, then perhaps you need to have a good look at yourself,” Sutherland said.
Fifteen years later and Waugh and Sutherland – and most everyone else – is urging Australia’s cricketers to have a long – and long-overdue – look at themselves. The ephemeral “line” they often talk about not crossing has been leapt across as if by Fosbury flop. Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, marked early as the Trevor Chappell of our time, are on their way home. Sutherland said the trio will face “significant sanctions” for ball-tampering while CA looks to “rebuild trust” in the Cricket Australia brand.
Where to now for Australian cricket? Now that they’ve finally, irrevocably crossed “the line”, might we now begin to see a “nice” Australian Test cricket team? One that’s not so bloody-minded, that excuses overly-aggressive, bullying, boorish behaviour as “tough but fair”?
Waugh is urging Australia’s cricketers to review the Spirit of Cricket document. Jason Gillespie wrote that the team needs to rebuild public trust from scratch, without Smith or Warner on board. They will go into the fourth Test at The Wanderers in Johannesburg with a new captain, vice-captain, openers and middle order bat. Tim Paine – not five months ago Tasmania’s second-string wicket-keeper – will be Australia’s 46th Test captain.
Matt Renshaw – the 21-year-old who averages 36.64 in Test cricket with a highest score of 184 and was unlucky that a run of outs in first-class cricket coincided with a golden run by Bancroft – has been flown over straight after Queensland’s Sheffield Shield win. Fellow Queenslander Joe Burns – who can open or bat in the middle order – is on the way, too, along with Glenn Maxwell, a likely backup. Usman Khawaja will stay at No 3 and Peter Handscomb looks a straight swap with Smith at No 4.
Meanwhile, the hounds are barking for Darren Lehmann. But the man credited with instituting a “culture” that won Ashes series and the 2015 World Cup remains. As do questions of how much he knew. CA’s integrity unit has found he had “no prior knowledge” of the plan cooked up by Smith, Warner and Bancroft. According to friends you can take that on face value. According to many international cricketers, that’s baloney.
What’s clear is that when Lehmann saw things unfolding on television, he tried to cover it up, to alert his players that the game was up. Lehmann implicated himself thus. Yet the coach stays on, presumably with a view to see out his contract which expires the end of 2019 after an Ashes series in England. Justin Langer remains the man-in-waiting.
And further up? Sutherland has presided over World Cup and Ashes victories, and a lot of incoming money. TV rights are up for grabs and the man’s tenure will depend on the board’s belief in Sutherland’s ability to bring in the lucre. There’s also the not-insignificant task of “re-engaging with Australian cricket fans to rebuild respect and pride”.
And so the offending three will head home and “lawyer up” and await – perhaps contest – what Sutherland warned would be “significant sanctions”. It’s why Sutherland couldn’t call blatant ball-tampering “cheating” – because of due process in a case of employer sanctioning employees. Sutherland and his head of communications, Tim Whittaker, flew to South Africa on the same plane and along they way they’d have massaged their messaging. The clear take-out would have have been: don’t use the c-word. For even if it were perceived Sutherland has made up his mind – even if he and everyone on the planet has – clever lawyers could allege it may be prejudicial to CA’s case.
Down the track there’s a home series against India that one would assume Paine will remain captain for. And if he maintains form with bat and gloves, and keeps his charges from being too “ugly”, he could hold the captaincy through to the 2019 Ashes. He presents well on camera. And plays cricket without overtly offending anyone. In the current environment, that may be enough.
