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A principled stand is required against corruption
Jan 12, 2010 Letters
Dear Editor,
No game does morality better than cricket”, so commented Mike Atherton, the former England cricket captain in his UK Times article (07-01-2010) on the ball tampering controversy during the recent Third Test in South Africa.
The English fast bowlers, Stuart Broad and James Anderson may have altered the ball‘s shape and texture by standing on it and scratching it. Ball tampering has more significance in the subtler Test arena rather than during the limited overs of the money driven Twenty 20 form of the game.
So is there any real distinction between shining one side of the ball, or lifting the seam of the ball with a bottle top? If everyone is ball tampering to differing degrees, who is in a position to pass judgment as to whether it is illegal or not?
In some ways, it’s like asking if there is any distinction between someone giving money to a good cause or money laundering. One is legal if neither the Laws of Cricket or State are broken nor the other certainly is not!
The former car sales-man, Allen Stanford who had more appreciation of the cricketers’ wives than the game itself, bought himself short term credibility with his US million $ prizes before his financial empire collapsed. Guyana’s very own philanthropist, Dave Balgobin, appears from news reports to have contributed to local government projects and gave out Guyana million $ sporting prizes to the susceptible and money intoxicated. Both men have the benefit of due process are therefore presumed innocent of their US charges until proven otherwise.
Isn’t it time for the Guyanese people to take a principled stand against the cancer of corruption that is eating the soul of their beloved country! Even if no Laws are subsequently proven to have been broken, any action that is against the Spirit of the Game is certainly ‘Not Cricket’. As the saying goes, “For evil to succeed, good men and women must do nothing”.
Robert S. Drepaul
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