It's just not cricket. Except that actually, it is
Monday, August 30, 2010 at 10:07AM 
Lots of people discussing the Pakistani cricket betting scandal have said that it is particularly damaging to cricket because of the sport is known for its "sense of fair play". Do us a favour. No one has thought international cricket was about decency and fair play since the 1970s, when England's Tony Greig announced his intention to make the West Indies "grovel", and Australian fast bowlers Lillee and Thomson boasted that they wanted to intimidate batsmen. Batsmen who knew they were out stopped walking before the umpire's decision long ago. Sledging isn't exactly gentlemanly.
In fact moments of temper-loss and unsporting behaviour - the glares down the wicket, the ball-tampering, the rows with umpires - are significant attractions, all the more so because of the slow pace of the game. It's a it like motor racing; you can admire the excellent driving skills, but the bits that will be repeated on the news are the crashes. Everyone knows it's a game full of subtle cheating, and has been since England adopted bodyline bowling in the 1930s.
In reality the sport with the strongest reputation for fair play and decency in the UK, the recent medical scandal notwithstanding, is still rugby union. Even people who hate the sport admire the way its players don't argue with referees much. What people really mean when they say cricket has a sense of fair play is that it has a reputation for being vaguely posh and old-fashioned, and it has breaks for "lunch", "tea" and "drinks". That's nice, of course, but it's not the same thing as fairness.
Reader Comments (1)
What? Union having a reputation for fair play? After all those years of 'shamateurism'? Players given back handers or set up in cushy jobs by sponsors? And yet the likes of Steve Pilgrim banned for life (reduced on appeal) for simply having trials with Leeds RL and Halifax RL?
Union fair? A sport with an unrivalled reputation for gouging? A sport brought into disrepute by players feigning injury with a blood capsule?
Rugby Union has never been a fair sport.