Fellow Rooster Steve Smith

[The Thracian]

I was one of the many that jumped to conclusions with this ball tampering drama, during his press conference I was holding back tears, this bloke was thrown under the bus by another Rooster in Warner, Smith’s crime is being gullible and too trustworthy, he now has my full support, I hope all Roosters get behind him, that was a very sad thing to see

[Bigchook]

You were almost in tears because a cricket captain let his players scuff a cricket ball with sandpaper..

Meanwhile, in Syria..

[ism22]

Frigging cricket. the one game in the world where everybody blames the pitch for the result and there is a whole class of bowlers dedicated to tampering the ball (so that it becomes all wonky to hit) rather than trying to bowl it straight and hard.

It is generally accepted that you can piss on the ball, put lighter fluid on it (that is why Warne pretended to be a chain smoker - you will never see him with a fag in his mouth socially), spit on it, scratch it, pick it apart and intentionally beat it up with your bat (along with the pitch) if you are a tail-end batter. But when you use bright yellow sticky tape with sand stuck to it (on live television you gronk!!!), you know you’ve gone a bridge too far.

Fark me, cricket is the most boring sport in the world. I only ever watch it when I am feeling down about my footy team having a shyte year... because we never love the cricket... right? Wrong. Now we are farking cheats and STILL cannot win the cricket.

[Red.]

I was one of the many that jumped to conclusions with this ball tampering drama, during his press conference I was holding back tears, this bloke was thrown under the bus by another Rooster in Warner, Smith’s crime is being gullible and too trustworthy, he now has my full support, I hope all Roosters get behind him, that was a very sad thing to see

I'm with you. Felt awful for the bloke.

[eddie]

The whole saga is ludicrous.
Ball tampering in cricket has been common practice for decades.
Up until now players have been copping the odd slap on the wrist, but now all the drama queens in the world are putting it up there with crimes like murder or supporting souffs.

Steve Smith has been solid, and taken all responsibility for this as captain.
Even though these players did the wrong thing, Smith has earned my respect for his conduct since.
His punishment is draconian and stupid.
The ACB is no better than the NRL.
They both suck.

[trewhella]

It’s a sticky situation.
Its a bit rough

[milanja]

May feel sorry for him. But it was his call in the end.

bancroft Seems genuinely sorry.

[theGman]

Dumb, dumb & dumber. Bias aside (because he's an avid chooks supporter) how the fark did they think they were going to pull this off???? Warner's strapping came under scrutiny in the previous test so of course there were going to be cameras galore watching their every action after each delivery and over bowled.

Also, use a bit of tact.......of all contrasting colours they used yellow sandpaper??? Maybe white is hard to come by in SA.

IMO, Aussie cricket captains from Ricky Ponting onward have often shown arrogance, poor sportsmanship & leadership & lacked humility. No sympathy whatsover from me.

RANT OVER!

[zac]

Clearly Cricket Australia is running an anti-Roosters agenda ...

Smith ****ed up, but after ****ing up he's handled himself well. May he return bigger, better - and wiser.

[4 the all in brawl]

Perhaps Makita or Ryobi can sponser them now that they have lost other sponsors.

If they were South African, Indians or Poms nothing would have come out of it apart from the fine and one match ban. For Farrks sake Du Plessis is still captain even after busted for altering the ball's condition twice.

We Australians however, have never got over the underarm incident in 1981 and shock horror ball tampering the Crime of the Century. I know I was caught up in it last Sunday a bit but I think the moment took me back to how I felt after the underarm incident.

I think Smith will be back one day but his legacy has been tarnished and that is a real shame, Warner probably not and tbh I don't really give a shite.

Bancroft looks like it really has taken its toll on and I know he obviously was a clean skin before this as he was like a rabbit caught in the spotlight.....

[rented tracksuit]

What’s awful about the whole sorry drama is that as Aussies, we get on our high horse and hammer sporting cheats yet we’ve now been busted doing it ourselves. We can’t live in a glass house and still throw stones. The other thing even more annoying is that we should be and are good enough to win without cheating. It was also only game 3 and no matter what the result, it was also going to go to a 4th game so even if it was to be a somewhat justifiable or last ditch act, why game 3? Stupid to say the least!

As the Brawler has said tho. Du Plessis is still el capitano after being done twice for illegal ball work. Punishment is definitely needed but I think what they will serve may be a bit over the top. They have stuffed up and have disgraced the nation but they are still 3 of the best players we have got and given us plenty of reasons to feel like winners in the past so maybe a bit of support might be better than over reacting and hanging the dopey buggers out to dry. Penalize them yes, suspend them yes but the severity of the punishment should be questioned imo.

[Easts75]

Frigging cricket. the one game in the world where everybody blames the pitch for the result and there is a whole class of bowlers dedicated to tampering the ball (so that it becomes all wonky to hit) rather than trying to bowl it straight and hard.

It is generally accepted that you can piss on the ball, put lighter fluid on it (that is why Warne pretended to be a chain smoker - you will never see him with a fag in his mouth socially), spit on it, scratch it, pick it apart and intentionally beat it up with your bat (along with the pitch) if you are a tail-end batter. But when you use bright yellow sticky tape with sand stuck to it (on live television you gronk!!!), you know you’ve gone a bridge too far.

Fark me, cricket is the most boring sport in the world. I only ever watch it when I am feeling down about my footy team having a shyte year... because we never love the cricket... right? Wrong. Now we are farking cheats and STILL cannot win the cricket.

Agree.
**** it's a boring sport and the Aussie team is so easy to dislike. Steve Smith deserves every bit of 12 months the naive dumb ass

[Johnny73]

I Bet Fair play was not on their minds and I Bet 365 days from now, there will be no forgiveness from the Ladbrokes nor that fellow Willliam Hill.

[rented tracksuit]

I Bet Fair play was not on their minds and I Bet 365 days from now, there will be no forgiveness from the Ladbrokes nor that fellow Willliam Hill.

Absolutely spot on. Biggest blight on any form of sport today.

[Arties Pie]

As Captain the teams behavior on field is his responsibility and whether or not he had any knowledge of what was happening is unclear as there are conflicting reports over this, if he had knowledge before the fact then the 12 month ban is warranted if not then the rest of this series would have been suffice.

Warner on the other hand has been nothing but a stain on the game with his on and off field behavior, as the instigator of most of all the crap that has gone on in the past few years I truly hope he never wears the baggy green or plays for Australia again. He goes from one shit storm to the next causing mayhem where ever he goes. Bancroft got what he deserves, he knows the rules and is a grown man and he should have got the 12 months.