ZCZC
BSP-06
CRICKET-AUS-TAMPERING
Reviews into Australia cricket ‘confronting’: Taylor
SYDNEY, Oct 28, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Two reviews into the state of Australian
cricket sparked by the ball-tampering scandal are “confronting”, Cricket
Australia board member Mark Taylor warned Sunday ahead of their release.
One is focused on the culture within the sport’s governing body and the
other into the national team.
They are due to be made public on Monday, six months after CA commissioned
them following the cheating furore in Cape Town this year.
Taylor said there were 41 recommendations.
“I have seen the review. It will be hard-hitting, confronting for CA and
for anyone who loves the game of cricket,” the former Test skipper told
Channel Nine.
“Everything is on the table.”
The scandal involved Australian players using sandpaper to alter the
flight of the ball in a Test match against South Africa last March.
Coach Darren Lehmann quit in the wake of the uproar and then-captain Steve
Smith, deputy David Warner and batsman Cameron Bancroft were banned from the
game.
The backlash rocked Australian cricket to its core, undermining the long-
held notion that its players were “tough but fair”.
Critics blamed a win-at-all-costs mentality that they said developed under
CA chief executive James Sutherland and his management team.
CA previously denied the charge but set up the two separate inquiries to
examine how the scandal occurred.
“All of us have had too much negativity around the game,” said Taylor.
“Tomorrow is the opportunity to get it out there.
“There is no doubt there is a mandate, as I would look at it, in these
reviews for CA to make some change, to get better at what we do, and also,
most importantly, to get on with how we do business with people.
“And we have got to get that better. No doubt about that. I have said that
before.”
Sutherland, who departed last week after 17 years in charge, said lessons
had been learned from the overwhelming public disgust over the issue.
“It’s a reminder to everyone as to how important cricket is… and the
pedestal on which the Australian cricket team is held and the expectations
that come with being an Australian cricketer,” he said.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1257 hrs