Pulling stumps on a noble sport

Australia’s Governor-General Michael Jeffery has weighed into the debate surrounding Australia's stormy cricket series against India, lamenting the loss of grace and courtesy from the game.

That the GG even commented reflects the depth of feeling over the behaviour of Australian and Indian international cricketers. I’ve written before about the on field insults as part of most sports, but this nonsense has spilled over into the public arena, casting all involved in a bad light.

There was a time when cricket was a metaphor for decent and proper behaviour. Always a tough game played without mercy at top level, TV rights and big money have all but destroyed the traditional values of the sport.

I missed cricket the years I was in North America, and looked forward to the traditional summertime contests here in Australia. This season I am ready to walk away from any interest in the game.

These players are extremely highly paid to play cricket, not behave like school yard thugs. When the cash stake went up for players, standards began to drop. The game existed for many years, some say centuries, on its own merits and not as a shallow entertainment.

The GG went on to say: "While we should be playing the game tough and hard and all of that sort of thing, I think there's also a need to really take care of the fundamental courtesies and good manners.

"Good manners on the ground and off the ground have such a good impact on our other cricketing friends around the world. I think we've got to have a little bit of a look at this."

I think the players need to have a good look at themselves and start behaving like adults. Fame and money is obviously too much for these yahoos to deal with.