The Official Cricket Thread

[Calculon]

I thought he was supposed to be one of the, or the one, nice Aussie cricketer

[Gumboot]

I thought he was supposed to be one of the, or the one, nice Aussie cricketer

The judgment of Cricket Australia has to be called into question. Despite knowing what he'd done, they still appointed him as Steve Smith's nicer, cleaner replacement. How could they not have seen this fiasco coming?

[handyman]

Oh dear.

[handyman]

AB de Villiers retires from all cricket.

What an absolute legend, thanks for the memories.

[Paddington Bear]

...and now we have photos of Hales in blackface.

Potentially controversial here and I'd love nothing more than to see Hales hung out to dry, but I think Rafiq's old comments demonstrate that at some stage we're going to draw a line under this. Very, very few people have clean hands here and this could run and run and run.
My personal view is that the fact it's happening in the off-season gives the ECB a chance to set new standards for cricket from the 2022 season on. Counties can be restructured, education offered, I suspect all recreational players will get a code of conduct etc. Be clear where the line is from now on as otherwise we could have years of this.

[Calculon]

I thought he was supposed to be one of the, or the one, nice Aussie cricketer

The judgment of Cricket Australia has to be called into question. Despite knowing what he'd done, they still appointed him as Steve Smith's nicer, cleaner replacement. How could they not have seen this fiasco coming?

Yeah, pretty foolish of them.

I also don't really get the sending of a dick pick as an attemp to flirt with someone.

[SaintK]

...and now we have photos of Hales in blackface.

Potentially controversial here and I'd love nothing more than to see Hales hung out to dry, but I think Rafiq's old comments demonstrate that at some stage we're going to draw a line under this. Very, very few people have clean hands here and this could run and run and run.
My personal view is that the fact it's happening in the off-season gives the ECB a chance to set new standards for cricket from the 2022 season on. Counties can be restructured, education offered, I suspect all recreational players will get a code of conduct etc. Be clear where the line is from now on as otherwise we could have years of this.

Hales comes over as a monumental cock.
The ECB will be under intense pressure to come with those new standards.

[Paddington Bear]

...and now we have photos of Hales in blackface.

Potentially controversial here and I'd love nothing more than to see Hales hung out to dry, but I think Rafiq's old comments demonstrate that at some stage we're going to draw a line under this. Very, very few people have clean hands here and this could run and run and run.
My personal view is that the fact it's happening in the off-season gives the ECB a chance to set new standards for cricket from the 2022 season on. Counties can be restructured, education offered, I suspect all recreational players will get a code of conduct etc. Be clear where the line is from now on as otherwise we could have years of this.

Hales comes over as a monumental cock.
The ECB will be under intense pressure to come with those new standards.

He's from round where I'm from - he is a complete bellend and I have no time for him, I've thought that long before any of this.

Yes the ECB need to get a grip on it and then enforce the new standards. A much better use of everyone's time than having people trawl through old facebook posts.

[Margin__Walker]

My Brother was mates with him when he was younger. Played in same Buckinghamshire age grade teams.

Always find the amount of high profile people getting caught in black face controversies amusing. At no point (even at the age he was) would it occur to me to paint myself black for an event. It's just a bit weird.

[Mahoney]

I never have, but then I avoid fancy dress like the plague. I'm trying to remember when I became aware that it was offensive... I suspect it's within the last decade.

Not trying to defend Hales (the Kevin stuff has an unpleasant ring of truth to it, and as such is much, much worse...), but I can imagine some people who have done so were just doing fancy dress without any other intent or thought.

[Paddington Bear]

I think there's definitely been a transformation from it being 'edgy' to completely unacceptable over the last decade or so. Come Fly With Me etc is really not that old.

[inactionman]

Yet another Aussie captain resigns in tears...

Australian test cricket captain Tim Paine quits after being caught in 'sexting' scandal

Tim Paine has stood down as captain of the Australian test cricket team, after being embroiled in a 'sexting' scandal with a former female co-worker.

According to Herald Sun, Paine sent a Cricket Tasmania employee a “dick pic” and a series of sordid messages on the eve of the 2017 Ashes series.

The woman claimed she was offended by "Mr Paine's sexually explicit, unwelcome and unsolicited photograph of his genitals in addition to the graphic sexual comments".

"I'm announcing my decision to stand down as the captain of the Australian men's test team," Paine told a media conference in the Tasmanian capital of Hobart on Friday.

"It's an incredibly difficult decision, but the right one for me, my family, and cricket.

"On reflection, my actions in 2017 do not meet the standard of an Australian cricket captain, or the wider community."

Whilst I struggle to understand why anyone would send a dick pic, I'm also struggling to understand how this could be 'unsolicited'. Surely there was some earlier correspondence that built up to all this? Or did he just go all-in from the get-go?

In principle I'd have some sympathy if it was a part of an ongoing relationship which was getting a bit fruity, less so if he just sent them out of the blue.

And, whichever way it occurred, he did this as a recently married man which is pretty abysmal behaviour.

[JM2K6]

"Out of the blue" dick pics are not uncommon, apparently.

[robmatic]

I thought he was supposed to be one of the, or the one, nice Aussie cricketer

The judgment of Cricket Australia has to be called into question. Despite knowing what he'd done, they still appointed him as Steve Smith's nicer, cleaner replacement. How could they not have seen this fiasco coming?

Yeah, pretty foolish of them.

I also don't really get the sending of a dick pick as an attemp to flirt with someone.

Peak of Australian romance.

[Calculon]

The judgment of Cricket Australia has to be called into question. Despite knowing what he'd done, they still appointed him as Steve Smith's nicer, cleaner replacement. How could they not have seen this fiasco coming?

Yeah, pretty foolish of them.

I also don't really get the sending of a dick pick as an attemp to flirt with someone.

Peak of Australian romance.

I've now read the alleged exchange between them and there was prior flirting going on. Still, unless the lady asks you for a picture of your penis, probably best not to send her one.

[inactionman]

Yeah, pretty foolish of them.

I also don't really get the sending of a dick pick as an attemp to flirt with someone.

Peak of Australian romance.

I've now read the alleged exchange between them and there was previous flirting going on. Still, unless the lady asks you for a picture of your penis, probably best not to send her one.

Same here, it seems his advances weren't entirely unwanted but nothing to say sending an image of your member is anything other than a bad idea.

I'm hoping that's not what he's being hung for here - it would be more a misreading of the situation, not helped by the lack of context to text messaging. The major offence is he's a married man sexting with a colleague, but that doesn't seem to be the issue in the (admittedly limited number of) reports I've read.

[inactionman]

"Out of the blue" dick pics are not uncommon, apparently.

You'd hope totally out of blue would be treated as indecent exposure. Which may be a forlorn hope.

Seems that Paine just escalated too far - thinking with the cock when sending an image of said cock - there were a few ribald back and forths between the pair beforehand. Whether that's any mitigation is perhaps open to interpretation.

[Mahoney]

You can find the exchange pretty easily online. They are flirting, though he definitely ratchets it up. None of the sites I've read give any subsequent texts from her after the dick pic. They may have left them out because they don't fit a narrative one way or the other. Or perhaps she didn't reply.

It's unclear how the exchange came to light. The Mirror above implies she resigned because the flirting was getting raunchy and complained when he was made captain of Australia. However there's a suggestion on ESPN cricinfo that she complained when she was under investigation for theft:

A subsequent statement by Cricket Tasmania said the allegations had only been brought to their attention when theft charges were laid against the employee in mid-2018 and that no complaint had been made at the time of the messages in November 2017.

It can of course take a long time before someone feels they are ready to complain about something they were genuinely upset by at the time.

[Mahoney]

I'm hoping that's not what he's being hung for here - it would be more a misreading of the situation, not helped by the lack of context to text messaging. The major offence is he's a married man sexting with a colleague, but that doesn't seem to be the issue in the (admittedly limited number of) reports I've read.

I'd see it exactly the other way around - it's not CA / Cricket Tasmania's business to enforce monogamy, that's between Paine and his wife. It is their business to ensure that their employees aren't sexually harassed at work by other employees with more power than them.

[Calculon]

Maybe we're seeing a cultural change influencd by the metoo thing and it's become more unacceptable. So if the woman complains afterwards (and didn't explicitly ask for a dick pic), you're gonna be in trouble even if there were mutual flirting going on.

[inactionman]

I'm hoping that's not what he's being hung for here - it would be more a misreading of the situation, not helped by the lack of context to text messaging. The major offence is he's a married man sexting with a colleague, but that doesn't seem to be the issue in the (admittedly limited number of) reports I've read.

I'd see it exactly the other way around - it's not CA / Cricket Tasmania's business to enforce monogamy, that's between Paine and his wife. It is their business to ensure that their employees aren't sexually harassed at work by other employees with more power than them.

My point is that it doesn't appear unsolicited or harassing, other than an escalation that went too far. I can understand any company restricting affairs between colleagues, which is where I'd think this would hit, but I've sympathy with that but not with infidelity (even if it may not have been physically consummated).

Am I being dense or insensitive here?

[Rinkals]

Years ago, shortly after the death of my previous girlfriend, I was on a dating site, conversing with a woman who had had a breast job, who sent me a selfie of the results. I demurred to return the favour, principally because I was reluctant to have images of my genitalia floating about the Internet.

As a sports personality in the public eye, it's baffling to understand why Paine would not have had similar reservations.

In other news, I see Rafiq has admitted to anti-Semitic texts, so I suppose none us are completely spotless.

[Mahoney]

It's unsolicited in the sense she certainly didn't ask him to send it.

The most flirtatious thing she's said previously in the dialogue is "I will think naughty thoughts about you whilst we watch the TV", which is definitely not in the same league as his reply of "I'm cracking! Ha ha. Naughty thoughts like what? I'm about to give something firm a pull…".

She immediately starts to distance herself gently. "Ha, sorry I'm getting ready for work … it's a big day for us kids" is not particularly encouraging.

He replies "Will you want to taste my ***?? F*** me, I'm seriously hard".

She then appears to try to de-escalate the exchange further: "I thought we were resting hands", though that could i suppose be interpreted as playing a bit coy in a mildly flirtatious fashion. But he goes all in:

PAINE: Can't rest them when I'm this hard!! Need to ease the tension … Finish me off with those lips then ;)

[Paine then sends a photo of his penis]

PAINE: Finish me off right now!!!

[robmatic]

It's unsolicited in the sense she certainly didn't ask him to send it.

The most flirtatious thing she's said previously in the dialogue is "I will think naughty thoughts about you whilst we watch the TV", which is definitely not in the same league as his reply of "I'm cracking! Ha ha. Naughty thoughts like what? I'm about to give something firm a pull…".

She immediately starts to distance herself gently. "Ha, sorry I'm getting ready for work … it's a big day for us kids" is not particularly encouraging.

He replies "Will you want to taste my ***?? F*** me, I'm seriously hard".

She then appears to try to de-escalate the exchange further: "I thought we were resting hands", though that could i suppose be interpreted as playing a bit coy in a mildly flirtatious fashion. But he goes all in:

PAINE: Can't rest them when I'm this hard!! Need to ease the tension … Finish me off with those lips then ;)

[Paine then sends a photo of his penis]

PAINE: Finish me off right now!!!

Maybe I'm old-fashioned but that is quite the escalation from 'naughty thoughts' to 'Look at my dick, I'm masturbating'.

[Mahoney]

I'm hoping that's not what he's being hung for here - it would be more a misreading of the situation, not helped by the lack of context to text messaging. The major offence is he's a married man sexting with a colleague, but that doesn't seem to be the issue in the (admittedly limited number of) reports I've read.

I'd see it exactly the other way around - it's not CA / Cricket Tasmania's business to enforce monogamy, that's between Paine and his wife. It is their business to ensure that their employees aren't sexually harassed at work by other employees with more power than them.

My point is that it doesn't appear unsolicited or harassing, other than an escalation that went too far. I can understand any company restricting affairs between colleagues, which is where I'd think this would hit, but I've sympathy with that but not with infidelity (even if it may not have been physically consummated).

Am I being dense or insensitive here?

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what you mean by "being hung". CA & Cricket Tasmania exonerated him back in 2018, so at an official level he's not being hung at all. He's resigned in anticipation of the general shit storm as this becomes public. General shit storms tend not to be precise about what they are criticising.

[inactionman]

It's unsolicited in the sense she certainly didn't ask him to send it.

The most flirtatious thing she's said previously in the dialogue is "I will think naughty thoughts about you whilst we watch the TV", which is definitely not in the same league as his reply of "I'm cracking! Ha ha. Naughty thoughts like what? I'm about to give something firm a pull…".

She immediately starts to distance herself gently. "Ha, sorry I'm getting ready for work … it's a big day for us kids" is not particularly encouraging.

He replies "Will you want to taste my ***?? F*** me, I'm seriously hard".

She then appears to try to de-escalate the exchange further: "I thought we were resting hands", though that could i suppose be interpreted as playing a bit coy in a mildly flirtatious fashion. But he goes all in:

PAINE: Can't rest them when I'm this hard!! Need to ease the tension … Finish me off with those lips then ;)

[Paine then sends a photo of his penis]

PAINE: Finish me off right now!!!

My toes are curling reading that, but it just seems like a complete lack of context - he's reading it one way, her another, and I gather that's just the immediate exchange and not the preceding 12 months.

Still massively stupid to send a pic like that though.

[Torquemada 1420]

Yet another Aussie captain resigns in tears...

Australian test cricket captain Tim Paine quits after being caught in 'sexting' scandal

Tim Paine has stood down as captain of the Australian test cricket team, after being embroiled in a 'sexting' scandal with a former female co-worker.

According to Herald Sun, Paine sent a Cricket Tasmania employee a “dick pic” and a series of sordid messages on the eve of the 2017 Ashes series.

The woman claimed she was offended by "Mr Paine's sexually explicit, unwelcome and unsolicited photograph of his genitals in addition to the graphic sexual comments".

"I'm announcing my decision to stand down as the captain of the Australian men's test team," Paine told a media conference in the Tasmanian capital of Hobart on Friday.

"It's an incredibly difficult decision, but the right one for me, my family, and cricket.

"On reflection, my actions in 2017 do not meet the standard of an Australian cricket captain, or the wider community."

Full on implosion in cricket!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59344022

Alex Hales: Ex-England batter apologises for 'incredibly disrespectful' black make-up photo

[Slick]

Is there much being made of the Jew comments? Seems to just be a footnote in articles I’ve seen this evening

[Mahoney]

Is there much being made of the Jew comments? Seems to just be a footnote in articles I’ve seen this evening

There are attempts to say it invalidates everything, makes him a hypocrite etc. etc. etc. But his apology was so immediate and wiggle free, and the event so long ago, that it seems to have defused most of it. Prominent Jews & Jewish organisations seem to have accepted his apology as genuine.

[Slick]

Cheers. Such a mess

[Sandstorm]

Fuck knows who the Aussies will select as their next cleaner-than-clean skipper.

[handyman]

Fuck knows who the Aussies will select as their next cleaner-than-clean skipper.

What about ex saffer labushaine?

[JM2K6]

Cheers. Such a mess

It is worth mentioning that the problem he exposed was that of institutional racism aimed at pretty much anyone non-white, and a cover-up assisted by the ECB who were more than happy to let Yorkshire investigate themselves and bury it as much as possible. Rafiq could well be a total arse, but what he's exposed is far bigger than him.

The ECB needs a huge shakeup anyway, this was obvious years ago and they've only gotten worse!

[Paddington Bear]

Yes you don't need to want to be mates with Rafiq to recognise there is a lot of truth to what he's saying.

Said as much before - my hope is that the change that comes of this is structural rather than 'he said x about y and is banned'. Rafiq a good example himself of the merits of this.

[SaintK]

Looks like Vaughan may need to start looking for another career.

The BBC has dropped Michael Vaughan from their team covering the upcoming Ashes series because of his involvement in the continuing investigation into racism at Yorkshire, having concluded that the former England captain could not comment on topical issues without exposing a conflict of interest.

Vaughan was accused by Azeem Rafiq of making a racist comment before a Yorkshire game in 2009, and though Vaughan has strongly denied doing so two other players, Adil Rashid and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, have backed Rafiq’s version of events.

“While he is involved in a significant story in cricket, for editorial reasons we do not believe that it would be appropriate for Michael Vaughan to have a role in our Ashes team or wider coverage of the sport at the moment,” the BBC said in a statement. “We require our contributors to talk about relevant topics and his involvement in the Yorkshire story represents a conflict of interest.”

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021 ... reasons

[Gumboot]

The first test between India and NZ kicks off in Kanpur in about 15 minutes.

India won the toss and elected to bat.


India: 1 Mayank Agarwal, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Ajinkya Rahane (c), 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Axar Patel, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Umesh Yadav

New Zealand: 1 Tom Latham, 2 Will Young, 3 Kane Williamson (c), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Henry Nicholls, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Rachin Ravindra, 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Will Sommerville, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Ajaz Patel

[Kiwias]

Not a bad move to leave Santner out and use Ravindra instead.

[handyman]

Come on Black Caps.

[Paddington Bear]

Looks like Vaughan may need to start looking for another career.

The BBC has dropped Michael Vaughan from their team covering the upcoming Ashes series because of his involvement in the continuing investigation into racism at Yorkshire, having concluded that the former England captain could not comment on topical issues without exposing a conflict of interest.

Vaughan was accused by Azeem Rafiq of making a racist comment before a Yorkshire game in 2009, and though Vaughan has strongly denied doing so two other players, Adil Rashid and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, have backed Rafiq’s version of events.

“While he is involved in a significant story in cricket, for editorial reasons we do not believe that it would be appropriate for Michael Vaughan to have a role in our Ashes team or wider coverage of the sport at the moment,” the BBC said in a statement. “We require our contributors to talk about relevant topics and his involvement in the Yorkshire story represents a conflict of interest.”

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021 ... reasons

Fox Australia have picked him up instead.

[Ymx]

It sounds like Panesar is frustrated Vaughan has been convicted with no trial, slating BBC.