From B’desh ‘walk-off’ to ball-tampering, ICC chief slams players’ behaviour

Terming the recent occurrences of poor player behaviour as one of the worst, ICC Chief Dave Richardson on Thursday announced review on ‘player behaviour’ and ‘Code of Conduct’. Citing examples of Bangladesh ‘walk-off’ in Nidahas Trophy to the ball-tampering fiasco in Cape Town, Richardson asserted that the on-field behaviour of the players in the recent past has dented the reputation and spirit of the game and amendments are on the cards for specific serious offences like ball tampering and sledging.

New Delhi: Terming the recent occurrences of poor player behaviour as one of the worst, ICC Chief David Richardson on Thursday announced review on ‘player behaviour’ and ‘Code of Conduct’. Citing examples of Bangladesh ‘walk-off’ in Nidahas Trophy to the ball-tampering fiasco in Cape Town, Richardson asserted that the on-field behaviour of the players in the recent past has dented the reputation and spirit of the game and amendments are on the cards for specific serious offences like ball tampering and sledging.

“With the full support of the ICC Board, we will undertake a wide-ranging review into player behaviour, the spirit in which the game is played and the Code of Conduct. The spirit of cricket is precious to our sport and so intrinsically linked with good behaviour – the turn of phrase ‘that’s just not cricket’ is not an accident. We must protect that spirit. The review will bring together some well respected former and current players along with the Cricket Committee, the MCC and match officials as we consider the current offences in the code and the sanctions as well as how to make the spirit of the game a more integral part of that code. We want this review to be collaborative in nature and have a long-term positive impact on the game,” Richardson said in a recent interview.

“There has been much debate in the last week or two about the sanctions in the code being too lenient or too hard, but sport, like life, needs a set of rules, under which we can all operate. The recent behaviour of players has been unedifying and the sanctions applied have been imparted in accordance with the framework for penalties which currently exists. To go outside of this because we find the behaviour of a number of players particularly disturbing, would be to disregard the rules. This review gives us an opportunity to shape what the game looks like in the 21st century and reset the standards expected of player behaviour and communicate expectations of them clearly and without ambiguity. It will focus on two things, firstly the Code of Conduct, reviewing the levels of offence based on seriousness, more clearly defining the conduct that constitutes each offence and reviewing the sanctions that should apply to each,” Richardson added.

World cricket was in shock after Australian captain Steve Smith, his deputy David Warner were banned for a year for involvement in ball tampering during the third Test against South African in Cape Town.

Rookie opener Cameron Bancroft was also slapped with a nine-month suspension.

Agreeing to the fact that Cricket Australia's approach towards the whole issue has been some sort of a trigger for the ICC to revisit its current players' code Richardson said, “I do know that Cricket Australia have reviewed the incident in a far broader way than that match officials would have reviewed the specific incident of ball tampering in a specific match. It's a much bigger issue for them. It has been an eye opener for me that hang on ball tampering around the world is considered cheating.”

Richardson also stated that ICC is looking at empowering some former cricketers of impeccable integrity -- such as ex-India captain Anil Kumble, West Indies' Richie Richardson (he is a match referee), South Africa's Shaun Pollock -- to be a part of a high-powered group including members of MCC to set a roadmap for how the game should be played in the right spirit.