2018 Tour of South Africa

[jeemak]

Re: 2018 Tour of South Africa

I am somewhat cynical of Magellan's action on this.

What they have done is maximise their exposure as keepers of the moral faith, but also saved themselves large licks of money by withdrawing the sponsorship.

Maximum Exposure for Minimum outlay.

I think corporations are extremely sophisticated in how they monitor and respond public sentiment.

[Greystache]

Re: 2018 Tour of South Africa

Magellan has now ended its Australian cricket sponsorship. Three year deal worth $20M. Is the ACB still virtue signalling?

https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/magellan-dumps-cricket-australia-sponsorship-deal-20180329-p4z6u2.html

Magellan chief executive and co-founder Hamish Douglass was blunt in explaining why the group had ended its deal with Cricket Australia. The initial partnership had been based on "shared values and reputations of integrity, leadership, dedication and an uwavering customer-first culture".
"A conspiracy by the leadership of the Australian Men's Test Cricket Team which broke the rules with a clear intention to gain an unfair advantage during the third Test in South Africa goes to the heart of integrity," Mr Douglass said.
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Absolutely is it. This is the cost of virtue signalling and boasting of our moral superiority to the rest of the world. Well in fact this is just a portion of what the long run cost will be for choosing to take such a ridiculous stance out of some misguided attempt to appease those who'll never be appeased. I hope the CA board budgeted for it, but I seriously doubt they even considered the flow on effect.

I'll put it into context. Compare CA's approach and it's innevitable cost, then compare it to what the likely response would have been had South Africa been caught yet again.

"Breaking news from South Africa: South African captain Faf Du Plessis will front the ICC tribunal tomorrow following a report for ball tampering by the umpires in the 3rd Test. Video footage appeared to show Du Plessis holding a piece of yellow paper and rubbing the ball with it during the Australian second innings.

When asked to comment on the incident South African CEO Haroon Lorgat strongly defended his player-

"South Africa are outraged at this accusation and the suggestion he tried to cheat in any way. Faf had a piece of yellow tap on his hand to protect a nasty blister, and at no stage did he attempt to alter the condition of the ball. We will be defending strongly our player at the tribunal hearing and we expect a quick dismissal of the charge. Faf is a highly respected player in the cricket world, with a spotless reputation, and we see this as a baseless witch hunt which is aimed at trying to distract our team at a crucial stage in this series. We also question the role the Australian players have played in attempting to bully the umpires into making a false report".

The South African media has aslo been quick to defend Du Plessis suggesting this incident was a ploy by Australia to distract from their own poor behaviour in this series, and social media has likewise been quick to condemn the Australians. The hearing is scheduled for tomorrow and the likely outcome if the charges are sustained is a fine for Du Plessis but will unlikely see him be unavailable for the final fourth Test".

Cue Robert Craddock accusing the Australians of being bullies again and the focus of the charges fades after he is found guilty and fined. South Africa have all their players available, sponsors stand by their team who've been unfairly accused, and the crowd gets behind them in the 4th Test.

[jeemak]

Re: 2018 Tour of South Africa

I would suggest their response is more a pragmatic one, rather than virtue signalling but I suppose we look at things differently.

[Bornadog]

Re: 2018 Tour of South Africa

Heeeeeeerrrrrrrreeessss Daviiiiii

[Greystache]

Re: 2018 Tour of South Africa

I would suggest their response is more a pragmatic one, rather than virtue signalling but I suppose we look at things differently.

No doubt we do. I'd suggest the South African approach has worked out a hell of a lot better for them in all of their previous cases. They of course do have the advantage of not answering to a media and public who hate cricket and are always desperate for blood, but the level of sacrifice we've offered up for appeasement would make a Pagan blush.

[Twodogs]

Re: 2018 Tour of South Africa

But also a network that loves to believe in the moral high ground.
Magellan getting positive exposure that they could afford to pay for.

A smart bit of business. They will be all over the news too. I think you may be right to be cynical.

The other thing is some corporation is going to pick up bargain rate naming rights to the Australian cricket team.

[jeemak]

Re: 2018 Tour of South Africa

No doubt we do. I'd suggest the South African approach has worked out a hell of a lot better for them in all of their previous cases. They of course do have the advantage of not answering to a media and public who hate cricket and are always desperate for blood, but the level of sacrifice we've offered up for appeasement would make a Pagan blush.

I actually think that we love cricket, and have for a long time really disliked some of the people we have playing it on behalf of our nation.

The Australian cricket team is our traditional national team. It is a constant, we want it to represent the best of us and not the worst - and not just win or lose. I'm not quite sure passing off as tall poppy syndrome our distaste for the way some elements of it have behaved over time captures what is actually happening here.

Every time we see a Dave Warner mouth off and act like a prick, or a Nathan Lyon drop the ball into a run out batsman we cringe. For better or worse we have had ingrained into our national psyche that we play sport graciously and fairly, we actually take pride in that. This has been building for a long time with our national sporting team, I think that explains some of the ravenous backlash.

[hujsh]

Re: 2018 Tour of South Africa

I actually think that we love cricket, and have for a long time really disliked some of the people we have playing it on behalf of our nation.

The Australian cricket team is our traditional national team. It is a constant, we want it to represent the best of us and not the worst - and not just win or lose. I'm not quite sure passing off as tall poppy syndrome our distaste for the way some elements of it have behaved over time captures what is actually happening here.

Every time we see a Dave Warner mouth off and act like a prick, or a Nathan Lyon drop the ball into a run out batsman we cringe. For better or worse we have had ingrained into our national psyche that we play sport graciously and fairly, we actually take pride in that. This has been building for a long time with our national sporting team, I think that explains some of the ravenous backlash.

One of the things I've always taken for granted is that Australian sporting teams and Australian athletes at the national level don't cheat. Maybe not always going so far as to walk like Gilchrist but certainly not resorting to outright cheating. That's what 'other' teams do. Even things like the English bowlers going off the field to get massages and bring on elite fielders as the 12th man was because they were 'soft and couldn't beat us without some sort of leg up' (or at least that's what I fell back on at the time).

I don't know if 12 months is appropriate or not but I do know I don't want to hear about any more instances of cheating in the next 2-3 years like what happened with SA. That would drain what interest I have left in cricket away.

[Greystache]

Re: 2018 Tour of South Africa

I actually think that we love cricket, and have for a long time really disliked some of the people we have playing it on behalf of our nation.

The Australian cricket team is our traditional national team. It is a constant, we want it to represent the best of us and not the worst - and not just win or lose. I'm not quite sure passing off as tall poppy syndrome our distaste for the way some elements of it have behaved over time captures what is actually happening here.

Every time we see a Dave Warner mouth off and act like a prick, or a Nathan Lyon drop the ball into a run out batsman we cringe. For better or worse we have had ingrained into our national psyche that we play sport graciously and fairly, we actually take pride in that. This has been building for a long time with our national sporting team, I think that explains some of the ravenous backlash.

That psyche is heavily influenced by the media who go to great pains to highlight any incident that paints Australia in a bad light but ignores completely the behaviour of other teams to make the contrast even more extreme. I look at the behaviour of teams like India, South Africa, and the West Indies, the number of incidents they're involved in, the number of reports against them, and then the good press they receive and see a clear bias from the Australian media, and non-cricket followers to demonize Australia.

No team is perfect and I'm not arguing Australia is. But I see Virat Kohli charge in screaming *!*!*!*! off as aggressively as he can 2 metres away from Steve Smith when he's been dismissed without a word mentioned, then I see a headline news story on ABC about Josh Hazelwood's appalling behaviour when he uses the F word in casual conversation with an umpire about how the 3rd umpire came to a conclusion. I see this and I know there's a concerted effort from sections of the media that see everything they hate about Australia as being represented by the Australian cricket team, and targeting them for it. That Nathan Lyon "disgrace" would never had even had a mention if the player on the receiving end was the Australian player.

The contrast between the last half a dozen ball tampering incidents and this one shows how desperate some sections are for a bad news story about Australia. CA should support their players and target the hate filled media rather than try to appease them, because all it does is embolden them to double down next time. It's classic weak leadership, Gillon would be proud.

[jeemak]

Re: 2018 Tour of South Africa

That psyche is heavily influenced by the media who go to great pains to highlight any incident that paints Australia in a bad light but ignores completely the behaviour of other teams to make the contrast even more extreme. I look at the behaviour of teams like India, South Africa, and the West Indies, the number of incidents they're involved in, the number of reports against them, and then the good press they receive and see are clear bias from the Australian media, and non-cricket followers to demonize Australia.

No team is perfect and I'm not arguing Australia is. But I see Virat Kohli charge in screaming *!*!*!*! off as aggressively as he can 2 metres away from Steve Smith when he's been dismissed without a word mentioned, then I see a headline news story on ABC about Josh Hazelwood appalling behaviour when he uses the F word in casual conversation with an umpire about how the 3rd umpire came to a conclusion. I see this and I know there's a concerted effort from sections of the media that see everything they hate about Australia as being represented by the Australian cricket team, and targeting them for it. That Nathan Lyon "disgrace" would never had even had a mention if the player on the receiving end was the Australian player.

The contrast between the last half a dozen ball tampering incidents and this one shows how desperate some sections are for a bad news story about Australia. CA should support their players and target the hate filled media rather than try to appease them, because all it does is embolden them to double down next time. It's classic weak leadership, Gillon would be proud.

The Australian media focuses on Australia's ups and downs solely, because Australians are parochial and generally turn off when topics other than Australia are being discussed. That parochialism is magnified when it's brought down to a state or city level, and is why the Herald Sun and CH7 news open their content with small town issues, rather than broader national or international issues. The same applies with sports reporting, I'm really not sure the tail is wagging the dog here.

I also think there is an expectation (perhaps born from deep seated prejudice against most things foreign) that makes the Australian public expect unacceptable behaviour from other national teams.

[jeemak]

Re: 2018 Tour of South Africa

Mickey Arthur's piece isn't a bad read:

https://www.playersvoice.com.au/mickey-arthur-truth-about-aussie-cricket-culture/#QFLBzJwv6jjC7COg.97

[GVGjr]

Re: 2018 Tour of South Africa

I am somewhat cynical of Magellan's action on this.

What they have done is maximise their exposure as keepers of the moral faith, but also saved themselves large licks of money by withdrawing the sponsorship.

Maximum Exposure for Minimum outlay.

I get why you would be that way but every major sponsor of sporting team have clauses that protect their sponsorhip. If you don't do the crime they can't invoke an escape clause. The next company can now come in a look like a saviour saying how proud they are to be involved with a sporting team that sets the highest possible standards...Yes it's a bit of marketing but it will even itself out.

[Twodogs]

Re: 2018 Tour of South Africa

I am somewhat cynical of Magellan's action on this.

What they have done is maximise their exposure as keepers of the moral faith, but also saved themselves large licks of money by withdrawing the sponsorship.

Maximum Exposure for Minimum outlay.

Actually having thought about this I can see this turning on Magellin. This situation will turn and a lot of people are going to be thinking "we have gone too far" and public sympathy turning for the three players. The sponsor who made a knee jerk decision may well end up looking like a goose. People will feel bad but they wont want to accept any responsibility for their actions so who better to blame than the sponsor who abandoned the players?

[Bornadog]

Re: 2018 Tour of South Africa

Darren Lehmann quits as coach of the Australian cricket team

Darren Lehmann has quit as coach of the Australian cricket team.
An emotional Lehmann announced that the fourth Test against South Africa would be his last in charge.

[GVGjr]

Re: 2018 Tour of South Africa

Massive changes for the sport in our country. The captain, vice captain, coach and a youngster are now gone from the game and their future is uncertain. It's been a very emotional time for so many. I certainly felt sorry for Smith and Bancroft and while I've never been a fan of Lehmann the fact that Smith facing the media was the catalyst of his retirement shows how close these players are with their coach.

A real changing of the guard and it will be very interesting to see who comes into this side going forward.