Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 8:12 pm
Torquemada 1420 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 3:08 pm
ASMO wrote: ↑Mon Jul 03, 2023 6:51 am
I just find it all hilarious, i got absolutely no skin in the game, but if what happenned is within the laws of the game then stop moaning and maybe blame the player who was dumb enough to do what he did. This idea of "not within the spirit of the game" died with proffesional sport, its simple really, if you dont want it to happen, make a law against it, otherwise suck it up.
Cricket is weird in the way it picks and chooses what is sporting. The sledging wouldn't be tolerated in any other sport. Not even football.
Every sport has weird lines between what is and isn’t acceptable.
Off the top of my head:
Football - acceptable to get in the ref’s face and tell him to fuck off, unacceptable to play on if someone is down injured (rugby vice versa of course)
Rugby - acceptable to pantomime boo until the ref gives a card, unacceptable to boo the kicker, and let’s not forget traditionally acceptable to stamp/fight in a way that could grievously injure someone, so long as you didn’t gouge.
American football - acceptable to hit a player in a manner that can cause brain injury, unacceptable to ‘run up the score’.
Tennis - acceptable to deliberately exaggerate ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ after playing a shot, unacceptable for the crowd to make a sound.
I could go on.
What makes cricket’s different is that the Spirit of the Game, far from an abstract concept, is incorporated into the Laws of the Game in the preamble. Like any preamble, the Laws should be interpreted with that in mind.
I don't think we can conflate audience behaviour and that of the sporting participants and that would render some of your examples out of bounds. Anyway
1) Football. No, it's not. And anyone doing so that blatantly would be sent off. I do agree on the down injured thing which is some bizarre effort by footballers to feign some degree of morality.
2) Rugby. That's an audience thing and certainly does not apply in France and so can't be considered global regardless. Stamping was legal. It was permitted under the ruck laws. Hard to see how it wasn't sporting if it was in the laws. You might as well say a hard tackle is unsporting.
3) Yankball. On the brain injury bit: same thing as rucking. I don't know what "run up the score" means!
4) Tennis. Audience again.