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England and ball-tampering?

shivfan

Banned
Should they have filed an official complaint? AB deVilliers thinks so....

BBC Sport - Cricket - AB de Villiers critical of England in 'tampering' row

"I think there should be a formal complaint, because the ball did reverse [swing] afterwards," said De Villiers. "There was quite clearly a piece of leather off the ball after he'd [Broad] stepped on it - and it's not the first time it happened. "It's a little bit naughty. I wouldn't say he deserves to be banned - but it should be looked at, definitely."

I see similarities with that abandoned Oval Test between Pakistan and England....

Except that there was no TV evidence to support the decision by Darrell Hair to take action against Pakistan. All he had to go on was a ball that looked suspiciously tampered with.

In this case, we not only have a ball that had been suspiciously tampered with, but we also have TV evidence of James Anderson using his fingernail to scratch the leather off the ball. And then there was Stuart Broad stepping on the ball with his spikes....
 

Matt79

Global Moderator
Bit of a theme with Poms. Dirt in a pocket, mints in the mouth, spikes into the ball. Poor form indeed.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Anderson's didn't look too clever, admittedly. But Broad's is such a crock. There's no way he's a skillful enough footballer to consistently trap a moving cricket ball on the scuffed side every time. If he spikes the shiny side by mistake it's ****ed the prep up, hasn't it?

The trial by media is slightly grubby tho, isn't it? If yer yarps are that convinced they should make an official complaint, surely? Sadly it seems that spin in cricket isn't just something that's imparted on the ball nowadays.
 

Sir Alex

Banned
It's one of those cases which look worse on tv than it actually is. Still he ought to be booked even if he was an idiot there. As a reminder not to do anything with the ball on field.
 

zaremba

Cricketer Of The Year
A storm in a teacup.

Is Anderson really going to stand accused of ball tampering on the strength of that evidence? Come off it. If you think that's ball tampering, have a look at the old footage of Aaqib Javed with his thumbnail dug into the ball; think about John Lever with his vaseline, or Chris Pringle or Imran Khan with their bottle tops. What Anderson did was in a different league to that. Stupid, yes, because he opens himself up to supurious allegations, but ball tampering? Come off it.

Broad's gives me marginally more concern because what he did might actually change the condition of the ball, but please let's be realistic about this: if you're going to tamper with the ball you would at least do it in a way that allowed you to know which side you're damaging, rather than putting a foot (very gently) on a rolling ball.

As for Murray Mints, well it's lovely to hear that dug up again by a supporter of Australia, a team who are provided with jelly babies at drinks breaks. Why do you think your team does that, eh Matt?

Finally, ABdV should learn to keep his trap shut. If his team management chooses not to make an official complaint, then it's not for a player to start saying they should have done.
 

Shri

Mr. Glass
Finally, ABdV should learn to keep his trap shut. If his team management chooses not to make an official complaint, then it's not for a player to start saying they should have done.
He isn't entitled to his opinion?
 

Matt79

Global Moderator
Re Brumby's point on spin, I'd agree that there are Blair-like levels of spin bring generated by himself and Z in here. No wonder Inzi was upset at the Oval!
 

vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
Jimmy's isn't great, and even if there were due reason for it (dirt/mud on ball, pulling that scrap of leather off) it's the sort of thing that you let the umpire know about, so that you don't come across badly.

:lol: @ zaremba talking about jelly babies and reverse swing. They get brought out at drinks at just about every level of cricket these days, certainly not for the purpose of reverse tang. Mind you, the whole mints thing is something that I have absolutely no issue with either. But that is honestly the first mention I've ever heard of sweet lollies as a catalyst for Irish.
 

vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
Anderson's didn't look too clever, admittedly. But Broad's is such a crock. There's no way he's a skillful enough footballer to consistently trap a moving cricket ball on the scuffed side every time. If he spikes the shiny side by mistake it's ****ed the prep up, hasn't it?

The trial by media is slightly grubby tho, isn't it? If yer yarps are that convinced they should make an official complaint, surely? Sadly it seems that spin in cricket isn't just something that's imparted on the ball nowadays.
At least AB said that there should be an official complaint made, at least in his opinion. Its not like he's hiding behind ifs and buts.
 

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
I've still not seen the Jimmeh incident so haven't got an opinion on it. Nothing wrong with Broad's though, or rather I agree with Brumby's take on it
 

Uppercut

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Seems a bit of a storm in a teacup to me. If you break the rules you get punished so Jimmeh can't have much complaint but he actually did very little. Surely no one actually believes him doing that is going to have any impact on the match whatsoever?
 

Shri

Mr. Glass
Yes of course he is, I for one am glad to see AB Bounce Catch De Villiers upholding the spirit and integrity of the game, if only there were more players like him
Every player no matter what(even Ponting, Clarke etc) are entitled to their opinion. We don't have to agree with it. Hell, we might even look down on him tell him he is an idiot but we shouldn't tell anyone to stfu and deny him his right of speech. Thts what I was getting at with my post. Did not mean to say anything else.
 

zaremba

Cricketer Of The Year
:lol: @ zaremba talking about jelly babies and reverse swing. They get brought out at drinks at just about every level of cricket these days, certainly not for the purpose of reverse tang. Mind you, the whole mints thing is something that I have absolutely no issue with either. But that is honestly the first mention I've ever heard of sweet lollies as a catalyst for Irish.
I stand corrected

Edit: But am I really barking up the wrong tree? Surely if you use saliva to moisten and weight one side of the ball, as all teams including Australia do, and if sugary saliva has a greater effect than non-sugary saliva, then the dividing line between a Murray Mint and a Jelly Baby becomes a pretty thin one, doesn't it?
 
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zaremba

Cricketer Of The Year
Every player no matter what(even Ponting, Clarke etc) are entitled to their opinion. We don't have to agree with it. Hell, we might even look down on him tell him he is an idiot but we shouldn't tell anyone to stfu and deny him his right of speech. Thts what I was getting at with my post. Did not mean to say anything else.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Expressing it is a different matter. There are limits to free speech. One of which is that players, especially during the course of a game, should watch what they say.

Or to put it another way, if I want to tell him to stfu, that's simply me exercising my own right to free speech. Why deny me that right?
 

Shri

Mr. Glass
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Expressing it is a different matter. There are limits to free speech. One of which is that players, especially during the course of a game, should watch what they say.

Or to put it another way, if I want to tell him to stfu, that's simply me exercising my own right to free speech. Why deny me that right?
Thats another perspective I guess. But countering his views with a better argument is better than asking him plainly to stfu right?
 

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