Punter Gets ‘Shock' Interpretation Wrong

While Ricky Ponting may consider the bans on Australian cricketers ‘shocking’ to the world, the world is not only more astounded by the incident itself but also, aghast by the actions coming from Australia months after the self-imposed penalties...

- Sreelata S. Yellamrazu

In the background of Lord’s and at the covetous convention of former cricketers for the World Cricket Committee hosted by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), a former captain instead of coming down hard on the misdemeanors of his own compatriots seemed to suggest that his team were the brunt of example setting. While Ricky Ponting may consider the bans on Australian cricketers ‘shocking’ to the world, the world is not only more astounded by the incident itself but also, aghast by the actions coming from Australia months after the self-imposed penalties.

Using the background and platform of the MCC World Cricket Committee meeting, instead of denouncing the shameful actions of the Australian team in the course of the Cape Town Test in March earlier this year, the former Australian captain instead threw out a familiar line that has been towed by many an Australian cricketer blissfully blind with it comes to his own reflection in the mirror.

Even as the International Cricket Council (ICC) mulls greater penalties for players, teams as well as cricket boards for increasing infringements on the code of conduct rules that include ball tampering or the application of illegal substances to the ball, the saga of the ball tampering incident involving the Australians refuses to die down as well as the complaining from Australian quarters about the treatment meted out to the Australian cricketers involved.