There are many issues plaguing the game at the moment, and David Richardson – the ICC Chief Executive – opened up on some of them in his MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture on Monday, August 6.
Player behaviour on the field – sledging, abuse, send-offs – is one of the problems.
“As fans, we want our players enjoying and expressing themselves, we want to see emotion, passion and pride from players. What we don’t want is robots, lacking in personality, but equally, what we don’t want is ugly behaviour,” said Richardson.
“Lately, we’ve seen too much ugly on and off the field of play. As a sport we must be united, not just in our desire to protect the spirit of the game, but every single person in the game needs to commit to living that spirit and ensuring it is relevant in the 21st century continuing to make cricket a unique sporting proposition.
“Matthew Hayden’s career was in two parts. In the first he had a very unhappy tour of South Africa, suffering a string of low scores in the series. In the second innings of the final Test he got a duck. As he passed Pat Symcox on the way back to the dressing room Pat said, ‘Don’t worry Matt, Donald Bradman also made a duck in his last Test innings’.
“Hayden was dropped after that but a season or so later came back for an extraordinary successful second stage of his career, including a record-breaking tally of runs against South Africa in a later series.”
? @ICC chief-executive David Richardson on the need for t20 cricket to help “globalise” the game. #CowdreyLecture pic.twitter.com/5u4TuwlMIC
— Lord’s Cricket Ground (@HomeOfCricket) August 6, 2018
The difference between the past and the present, in Richardson’s opinion, is: “The guise of playing ‘aggressively’. That type of ugly behaviour is not what sport, never mind cricket, is all about and is simply unacceptable, and it is the latter that we are attempting to eradicate.
“We are relying on everyone to showcase cricket and inspire a new generation of players and fans. Winning must obviously be the aim of any game, but not at all costs, not when it means compromising the integrity of the game. We must all work proactively to protect the spirit of the game and make it a relevant part of cricket in the 21st century.”
