Bat and ball / Andrew Hughes / 30 September 2008 / Leave a comment

From Atherton and Hussey's refusal to walk to AB De Villiers' "claimed" catch, Andrew Hughes wonders whether players are any more honest today than they were a hundred years ago.

Cricket in its infancy was an unrestrained and not particularly noble pursuit. Rival aristocrats wagered hundreds of pounds on matches in which they and their hired hands from the lower classes played on rough patches of ground for the entertainment of rowdy crowds. It was not until the Victorian era, with its insistence on amateurism, nostalgia for the country life and muscular Christianity that cricket began to be seen as something honourable. It was the epitome of Britishness, of Empire, indeed of civilisation itself and the phrase 'it's not cricket' entered into common usage.

Successive generations have embroidered this sentimentality about the game, spinning it into an all-encompassing myth. Of course, all sports depend on players conducting themselves appropriately and no one would want cheating or sharp practice to be the norm. But the impression has been given over the years that cricket is somehow by its very nature, a worthy and noble activity; that just to play it makes you a better person.

An often-cited example is that of walking. Even to this day cricket watchers can get themselves hot under the collar when a batsman who is clearly out stands his ground. But the tendency to walk was always a minority one. It was never the custom in Australia, nor in the northern leagues of England, nor indeed was it the done thing amongst professionals. Some amateur county captains may have considered it a matter of honour but even then it was only ever partially adhered to.

Yet cricket, unlike other sports, seems still to get itself in a tangle about these things. When Atherton refused to walk after a Donald lifter had found his glove in 1998 and when Michael Hussey retorted, "I don't walk mate," to an angry James Anderson last year, they were not breaking the laws of the game nor were they behaving any differently to countless others who had gone before, going right back to W G Grace himself.

The Sydney debacle between Australia and India last winter was a perfect example of the mess the sport gets into by continuing to draw on these myths. It was also partially the result of a peculiarly Australian conception of what the spirit of cricket involves. Waiting for the umpire to give you out is a clear and defendable position and has been the norm throughout the history of Australian cricket. But expecting the batting side to take the word of a fielder who claims a low catch is to hark back to a contradictory code of behaviour, to the days of the English gentleman cricketer.

Cricket these days is no longer parochial and amateur in character, it is global and professional and relying on the etiquette of the 1880s is no longer effective. And it is particularly unnecessary when the technology exists to take the whole question of honesty out of the equation. A B De Villiers came up for a lot of stick this summer when appearing to claim a catch that clearly wasn't. In fact, he had said to his captain that he wasn't completely sure but Smith had not taken it further and it was left to the umpires, after the big screen replays had evoked boos all round the ground, to give Strauss not out. A messy and unnecessary conclusion.

Human beings are no more dishonest or mendacious than they were a hundred years ago. Had those silk-cravatted gentlemen of yore found their every action on the cricket pitch scrutinised by multiple camera angles and slow motion replays, who knows what skulduggery we might have uncovered. The only solution, now that technology is here is to let it reach an obvious conclusion, have the third umpire make all dismissal decisions and leave the on field umpires to tackle the more serious issue of verbal abuse on the field.

And speaking of verbal abuse, it's nearly time for India to take on Australia again. With Ponting and Hayden returning from injury and question marks hanging over the new look Aussie attack, the home side have an excellent chance to get an early series lead. They are [3.8] to win the First Test in Bangalore with the visitors on [3.25] and the draw favourite at [2.24]