Players and CA accused of being ‘embarrassed’ to win Benaud Spirit of Cricket Award
THE independent cultural review has demanded players and CA stop treating the Benaud Spirit of Cricket Award, given to the most impressively behaved state team, as an afterthought and an “embarrassment”.
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PLAYERS have been accused of treating the award named in Richie Benaud’s honour as an “embarrassment”, with Cricket Australia urged to elevate it to be one of the pinnacle achievements in the game.
Australian captain Tim Paine and his deputy Josh Hazlewood yesterday fronted a press conference in Melbourne and declared they would hold fellow players accountable for the ‘player pact’ which has been formed as the pillar for how the team will behave.
Paine admitted that Australian players had got “wrapped up in their own self-importance.”
The pledge made by players is set to culminate on Allan Border Medal night, with a call for the game’s highest individual honour to be a best and fairest award, not just a performance-based award.
But perhaps more significantly, the independent cultural review has demanded players and Cricket Australia stop treating the Benaud Spirit of Cricket Award, given to the most impressively behaved State team, as an afterthought and an “embarrassment”.
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A member of the CA Executive told the review:
“When it comes to playing the game, players still see the spirit of cricket as a ‘nice to have’ not ‘need to have’. The Benaud Spirit of Cricket Awards, at State level, are not valued – and it is almost an embarrassment to win the award,” he said.
The review made the point that the game’s major award winners at the AB Medal in recent years, stars Steve Smith and David Warner, were also the two players with the worst disciplinary records – even before Cape Town.
Paine and Hazlewood said they were confronted by the harsh assessments of the attitude and behaviour of the playing group in the review and vowed to change and stick to the pillars implemented even in the heat of an Ashes series.
“We recognise how lucky we are to play this great game. We respect the game and its traditions. We want to make all Australians proud,” said Paine, reading out the pact.
“Compete with us. Smile with us. Fight on with us. Dream with us.
“I was having conversations with Steve Smith about that (bubble) when I first came back into the team (in 2017),” Paine told reporters.
“We just got a little bit wrapped up in our self-importance.
“It’s not our cricket team. It’s Australia’s cricket team and I think for a little while we lost that.
“It’s about giving back to our fans. Getting outside our bubble and trying to grow the game a little bit more, think more of others.”
Originally published as Players and CA accused of being ‘embarrassed’ to win Benaud Spirit of Cricket Award
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