Cricket, lovely cricket

[Steven Russell]

I doubt there will be any calypsos written about recent events at Lord's. A sad day for the most beautiful sport of all.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[Phil Carter]

If the allegations are true, and it doesn't look very good at all--- all this is very sad, very stupid and very, very dangerous. There is only one answer, in my view. Life ban.

[Johnr]

Cricket fans Lovely Cricket Fans...

Hello Steven,

I agree about the sad involvement of "Filthy Lucre" in the noble game of cricket.

By the same token, aren't hidden cameras amazing viewing? And thank goodness for the noble ethics of newspapers like "The News Of The World" .!

Would you excuse me Steven if I rudely point readers of this thread to the Cricketer as Serial Killer line on the Druitt/Suspects thread?

Whilst my generalisations thereon, are deliberately provocative, the emotional element of some responses and the subsequent firey debate, might give readers here some insight into the modern day situation vis a vis cricket and the media and morality.

Unfortunately, I could not get a really solid discussion of the nexus (or not) of killers and sport going. I accidentally derailed my own thread.

That will show baseball fans that cricket fans are not too different from them.

I think cricket is a lovely game too.

JOHN RUFFELS.

[Steven Russell]

Hello Steven,



Would you excuse me Steven if I rudely point readers of this thread to the Cricketer as Serial Killer line on the Druitt/Suspects thread?



JOHN RUFFELS.

Not in the least, John. Actually I started this thread because I wanted to keep talking about cricket and thought I detected a slight frustration on your part with some of us going off topic on your thread. This one can remain as a place to discuss all matters pertaining to the Noble Art I hope.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[Mycroft]

I'm quite sure, that the dear fellows involved in this, have merely tried to defraud the western bookmaker, in order to give the proceeds of their crime, to the desperate and needy citizens of their great country, who are drowning in misery. I can think of no other reason, why the always honourable,decent and honest Pakistanis, would behave in such a corrupt manner, unless it was for the greater good and it might well be considered racist, if the matter was pursued further.Islam is after all, a peaceful and righteous religion , that forbids such acts as this, so obviously the allegations cannot be true.Right, there's my PC bit done, where do I write what I actually think? Am I allowed to write what I actually think?

[Monty]

I suspect those who bet on the game have little to no interest in the game itself.

I also suspect the IPL panders to this blend of betting, more opportunities.

Monty


PS, apologies to John for being one of the sabatuers on the tother thread.

[Robert]

The money is the filthy lucre. The one who bets is the filthy looker-on.

[Steven Russell]

Cricket seems to have gone full circle. Gambling was very much in evidence in the early days, particularly on single wicket matches, and one author I have read suggested that many early games were set up more or less to facilitate betting, like prize fighting. In other words, gambling gave rise to cricket rather than the other way round.

On the current situation I am rather torn. While I agree that every effort should be made to weed out corruption, I would not like to see promising careers ended when they have barely begun. Mohammad Amir's youth (he is eighteen) does not justify his actions - assuming he is guilty - but I feel a life ban would be too Draconian a punishment. Mind you, in Pakistani cricket life rarely means life.

And Monty, you're spot on about the IPL though I enjoyed it this year despite the ITV coverage and outrageous advertising. This has been a Karbonn Kamaal post.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[Adam Went]

There's enough senior players in the Pakistan team that have been around long enough to know that you shouldn't even consider getting involved in that type of thing. Let's face it, it's not the first time in recent years that Pakistan cricket has been involved in other scandals, so something is going amiss somewhere.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Steven Russell]

I agree, Adam. Nasser Hussein believes that Pakistan players are paid peanuts compared to the other major cricketing nations and this makes them more susceptible to involvement in corruption. I wonder what their wages actually are. Or maybe there is a culture of corruption whereby players' behaviour is governed by what they can get away with. I don't know. Theories, anyone?

Steve.

[Adam Went]

Hey Steven,

I can't comment on what their cricketers get paid but i'm sure there's plenty of youngsters out there who would give anything to be able to represent their country in the sport they love and get to travel the world and play at all sorts of great venues, regardless of what financial gain they make out of it.

Shahid Afridi - now, he was their Test captain very briefly recently, and he's still their Twenty20 captain and I believe ODI captain as well....how many run-ins has he had with the rules in the past? I can think of at least two instances off the top of my head, one where he was caught on camera scuffing a pitch up with his shoes a few years back, and another more recent one where he was caught biting a cricket ball. So, no doubt that he is an entertaining cricketer and a crowd pleaser, but the job of the Captain is to lead by example - is that an example to be set to the other members, particularly young members of the team?

Add to that the fact that at the present time, Pakistan aren't able to play cricket in their home country, with all the problems they have there, and the situation becomes very unstable all round and so then they are probably more succeptible to such scams....

That's all IMO though, of course.....opinion will no doubt be divided but one thing we can all agree on is that when we are watching a cricket match, or any sporting match for that matter, we want to know that it's for real, that we're not watching some scam in motion.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Monty]

Guys,

Off topic I know but its not worth setting up a new thread on this.

Has anyone got a decent hi res image of the Marylebone Cricket Club touring cap badge, you know, the one of St George slaying the Dragon.

I cant find one anywhere.

Preferably the pre 1990s one.

Many thanks in advance.

Monty

[Phil Carter]

Hello Neil,

I may have one taken by a mate who has been a member of the MCC for donkeys years. I will ask him tonight for you.

best wishes

Phil

[Monty]

Very grateful Phil,

Thank you.

Monty

[Steven Russell]

Ashes predictions

Not long to go now. I'm going to be cautiously optimistic and say 2-1 to England. Shall we put you down for 5-0 Australia, Adam?

Best wishes,
Steve.