Opinion | The real issue of fair play in cricket, and why it is a virtue Britain as a whole, and Hong Kong, needs more of
- The British pride themselves on their sense of fair play, especially in sport, and cricket above all, as a recent incident in an England-Australia match showed
- A recent report, though, highlighted much in English cricket that doesn’t exemplify fair play – a reminder that it embodies virtues everyone should aspire to
A strong sense of fair play has long been claimed to be a British characteristic, mostly by we British. It often arises in the field of sport. And no sport takes it more seriously than cricket.
A storm raged recently over allegations that the Australian team had breached “the spirit of the game” in a crunch match against England. It almost became an international incident.
The Australians secured the dismissal of an English batsman by taking advantage of his mistaken belief that play had stopped. They acted within the laws of the game. But the “stumping”, which helped the Aussies win the match, was seen by the English as unsporting.
There were unprecedented scenes at London’s usually sedate Lord’s Cricket Ground. The crowd booed the Australian team and chanted “cheats”. Some players were confronted in the famous Long Room as they left the pitch. Three members of the prestigious Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) were suspended.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak accused the Australians of breaching the “spirit of the game”. His Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, hit back, defending his team.
There has been much debate about precisely what “the spirit of the game” is and who was more unsporting – the Australian players or British fans.
