Off Topic Sport Other than Football - formerly the Ashes Thread

Where’s VAR when you need it?!

 

So they could watch it again and somehow make an even worse decision?

 

Nasty cheating Aussies

 

Oxbridge boat race, or...?

 

Smith not standing down...... Really?? Think the decision will surely be made for him. Cheating bastards!

 

He has stood down now.
Although it seemed to need words of disappointment and disapproval from their Prime Minister to persuade him. Nobody is held in higher esteem there than those who wear the Baggy Green. Your captain can't be a cheat.
They've just lost the Test too - 10 wickets falling for 50 odd in the last session of day four. Poetic justice. 2-1 South Africa.

 

There's talk over here for lifetime bans for Smith & Warner. A side issue is that Smith was offside with CA hierarchy during a pay dispute late last year and they haven't forgotten that. His IPL team is probably going to tear up his contract too. No surprise that they capitulated given what occurred.

 

Any thoughts on the Aussie GP? The virtual safety car, an introduction supposed to neutralise the race, handed victory to Vettel. A rule that needs looking at carefully. The pit lane already had a 40 mph speed limit, an F1 car can't go much slower unless the make all cars have a silly gear ratio, say about 12:1. They could insist on them remaining stationary for a few seconds but if you make them standstill for too long they will overheat, I would suggest some kind calculation based on likely pit stop time and the race director deciding whether or not they should give up a place or two.

 

He wasn't cheating, there was nothing down his trousers, he was only trying to get De Kock out.

 

London Spitfire failed to win back-to-back stages of the Overwatch League, coming second in the Stage Two group to eventual winners new York Excelsior, only to lose the semi-final to Philadelphia Fusion.

 

I thought he was trying to do a bit more ball-tampering.

 

Makes you wonder if Smith had been caught out (pun intended) earlier, along with Warner, how different might the Ashes have been. Smith's 687 runs at an average of 137 would take some replacing as would Warner's 441 runs at an average of 63.

 

And we might have scored a few more if the ball didn't swing more than Karen Brady.

 

very true and actually the main point

 

I'm not a big fan of cricket, but I don't understand how the ball tampering went unnoticed before being caught on camera.
Don't the officials ever examine the balls? Surely they'd notice something as suspiciously obvious as that?

 

The safety car rule is a farce.
The time gaps have got to be preserved somehow.
Don't know how, but anything must be better than the safety car option.
As we rarely have any genuine racing now i.e overtaking, why not consider re-starting the race with the safety car, but adjust the times at the end to ensure time gaps from earlier are preserved? I'm sure modern technology can be applied to ensure that those at the circuit and watching on TV are aware what the true positions are, allowing for time adjustments, even if that is not the order of the cars on the track. There will be complications (cars getting held up etc), but it seems fairer in principle.
It might not be ideal, but other sports manage to cope with similar issues where time advantages have accrued from early parts of the race (cycling being the most obvious).

 

The problem is that it's legitimate to alter the condition of the ball - but it has to be done "naturally".
The main reason for wanting to alter the condition of the ball is to make it swing.
So players will look after one side of the ball to keep it shiny, whilst trying to ensure that the other side becomes roughed up.
So a ball with a shiny side and roughed up side is commonplace - the issue is how it got into that condition.
Substances can't be applied to the ball to alter its condition, except spit or sweat; the ball can be dried or polished using clothing, but can't be deliberately rubbed with or into dirt.
It's often hard to detect the use of illegal substances such as hair gel, lip balm or face cream unless the use is blatant (as players put fingers through their hair, touch their faces etc).
Sometimes players pick at the seam or try to scuff the surface with their nails when purporting to clean the ball by picking bits of grass of it etc.
Obviously using something like sandpaper or an implement to gouge the surface of the ball is illegal and likely to be spotted by umpires.
Bancroft, the Aussie player in question in this case, had some tape in his pocket which was probably used to pick up dry dirt, which could then be rubbed against the ball at the edge of his trouser pocket to help scuff up one side more quickly. This is obviously illegal and was spotted on TV cameras.
Confused? You should be

 

Thanks for the thorough answer.

Why is it legitimate to alter the condition of the ball? That sounds ****ing stupid, to me.
Damaged ball? Change it. Examine between overs and replace any that aren't up to standard.

 

Everybody had dozed off.

 

The answer is out there - the virtual safety car. All cars must slow immediately to a set mph and maintain that while the flag is out. I don't get the need for an actual safety car.