Well, true to form, England receieved a sound thrashing in the First Test at Auckland, the media feeding frenzy gets ever more hysterical over the Australian ball tampering and true to form, the ICC has meted out some utterly pathetic sanctions against Smith and Bancroft whilst the finger of blame for ball tampering points ever more closely to Dave Warner whose hand taping is now regarding as the method previously used until young Bancroft was roped in to do the job.
It is typical of a rather pathetic England Test XI now to come forward with their suspicions that the ball was being tampered with in the Ashes series – as though but for that, of course, they would have run out winners by a country mile. They may well be right that the ball was being tampered with but nothing excuses their lameness in the Ashes which is now being replicated in New Zealand.
Goodness knows what Cricket Australia will do in terns if sanction but personally, I would like to see Australia relegated to a second tier Test team and forced to quality for a return to the top table. Won’t happen of course becasue that would involve substantial financial disadvantages to all the powers that be.
You can tell Mike Atherton is a bright guy by the rather bewitching way in which he sidestepped his own ball tampering form to focus on whether Australia are a team out of control. Clever that……
SW
Sticky Wicket 