As soon as the window smashed at Lord's you could hear the journalists' keyboards being frantically tapped, the headlines had been made.
Matt Prior, the England wicket keeper, had returned to the famous pavilion after being run out and, presumably still annoyed with himself, entered the dressing room and smashed a window.
There were, rather embarrassingly, many conflicting stories of how the window pane shattered, including many over-elaborate stories that akin to that of a school boy trying to get out of detention.
The first reaction captured by the television cameras was that of Andrew Strauss, the England captain, whose disparaging shake of the head was enough to signal his true feeling of the act of petulance shown by Prior.
However, despite the initial reaction displayed by Strauss, the angst towards Prior immediately waned as soon as comments were sought from former cricketer's such as Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain.
"The incident shows Prior cares and that's what I want to see from England cricketers" said Hussain.
Funny isn't it? If this was football you couldn't begin to imagine any degree of support or sympathy for such a reaction. It would be considered 'yobbish' and in-line with football which, to everyone disconnected with the sport, is inherently arrogant and loutish.
The fact this was cricket, a gentleman's game, means that staunch criticism is seldom given in comparison to similar misdemeanours in other sports considered less gentleman-like.
The Rugby Football Union is just as guilty for failing to condemn its professionals. Last month saw a much anticipated game between Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers remembered for nothing more than the barbaric attack from Leicester's centre, Manu Tuilagi, on Northampton and England's Chris Ashton.
It was immediately dismissed as being 'part of the game' by fans and pundits with the ever-predictable 'its a man's game' concluding statement which, in their eyes, is all the justification you need to repeatedly punch an opponent in such brutal fashion.
When the RFU did act it was, as we have come to expect, shrouded in farce. Tuilagi, the aggressor in this instance, was banned for just five weeks. The original sanction was 10 weeks but this was reduced due to mitigating circumstances.
Jeff Blackett, the RFU disciplinary officer, said: "We determined that there was some provocation from Chris Ashton who pushed and struck him in the back with his knee...the top-end range is eight to 52 weeks and we determined that the appropriate entry point within that range is 10 weeks.
"This was reduced by 50% to reflect Manu's youth and inexperience, his admission of guilt and his genuine remorse" Blackett concluded.
"This was reduced by 50% to reflect Manu's youth and inexperience, his admission of guilt and his genuine remorse" Blackett concluded.
So there you have it. For an offence that would have seen a member of the public tried in a criminal court, Tuilagi gets a reduced sentence because he showed genuine remorse. Oh, and he's young.
Its enough to make you reel in despair at the thought of a 20-year-old being considered old enough to play the game professionally yet too young to fully understand what is morally acceptable on a playing field.
Still, at least it shows he cares.
No comments:
Post a Comment