As the future surrounding the Australian Cricket team rolls on like a soap opera, with some remarkable twists and turns the comments of former International Brad Hogg are probably comments that need to be given more contemplation.
“Cricket Australia have got to be accountable, the administrators have got be accountable because they allowed this behaviour to go on for too long.” Hogg told Fox Sports. “Its not about the ball tampering for me, its about the way the players have conducted themselves both on and off the field. Their behaviour has been appalling over the last year or two and now its come to a big media circus right now with the ball tampering issue.”
Hogg continued by saying “They’ve got to do something. They are trying to patch up a situation that they could have controlled many moons ago, so I think there’s more heads to roll down the track rather than these three players. Cricket Australia, they are supporting the players but they are not challenging the players.”
The sad fact is Cricket Australia are not alone in this behaviour, there are any number of professional sporting clubs or national teams that brush at times disgraceful behaviour under the carpet, in order to keep a star player in the team, and the team winning.
In some cases aiding and abetting are sections of the media. As became very clear during the FIFA illegal payments scandal, there were certain members of the media who could be relied upon to run stories either as a smokescreen or to deflect attention from the real issue. The same happens with others who are close to managers of big name players, and are happy to run “rumours” as a story to drive a player’s value in the market up, and secure a better deal at a new club.
Sadly this behaviour has become de rigueur.
To add to the dilemma we witness administrators who have failed or achieved nothing, and not had their contract renewed at one organisation readily employed at another. So the cycle starts all over again.(Who’s Hiring)
Having met with one Australian consulate who was previously based in one of the Test playing nations that Australia plays, Brad Hogg’s claims are true. This Government representative who asked that their name not be used, claimed that after an Australian Cricket tour they spent a month travelling around the country apologising for the team’s behaviour.
What did Cricket Australia do? Nothing.
So if those administrating the game do not have the strength of character to keep their employees under control, who is responsible?
Sadly this is half of the problem with the modern day sporting landscape, a lack of accepting and taking responsibility. The players are not held accountable in many sports, and neither are those overseeing the players accountable by the Board.
Interestingly one senior executive from one sport said that they felt the reason why some administrators are more focussed on staying out of trouble and feathering their own nest before they move onward and upward, was due to poor leadership. This senior employee also stated that nothing irked them more than the fact that when they were made to fly abroad on business, and are expected to go straight into meetings on landing, was that they fly in economy while the Board always are flown in Business Class and the sport pays.
Many are saying that money is the root of the Australian Cricket team’s evils; as well as world sport in general. That the Cricketers are now being remunerated to a level where they feel that they are above normal rules of behaviour, and with money has come arrogance.
There is certainly some weight to this argument. However leadership is usually the key.
What sport needs at this point in time is leaders with integrity. Leaders who are above corruption, leaders with morals who will make the hard calls when those in their employ step out of line.
It is no coincidence that since his death 13 years ago, football Manager Brian Clough has had a an insightful award-winning memoir written about him, as well as more than a dozen other books. A number of documentaries have been made about him, most trying to find the secret of his success. In addition statues of him have been funded by the public and erected in his home town of Middlesbrough, and also in Nottingham, the scene of his greatest accomplishments. There is also one at Pride Park the home of Derby County. When one considers the rivalry between teams, to see three clubs pay such a tribute to one man is nothing short of phenomenal.
What made Clough stand apart was the integrity of his ideals and the standards he set for his players’ style and conduct. He never allowed his players to question referees, let alone harass them. To the very end of his managerial life he remained a beacon for fair play and ensuring that his players adhered to his principles.
Clough was by no means a saint. Yet despite being hard on many a player when you read the books written, or watch the documentaries made you find that none have forgotten his volatility or his strange ways. However nearly all have forgiven him. The reason is because nearly all know that here was a man who brought out the best in them. It was his belief in them transformed them. That is leadership.
He could be vain and he could be truculent. At times he was abrasive. He had a wicked sense of humour which was sometimes misunderstood, but he would often use humour to put people down. He had an unerring belief in his ways, and in himself.
Ask any player that played under him who was in charge, and they will not hesitate to tell you he was. All knew if they stepped out of line they would face the consequences, or be transferred. Yet his way reaped rewards which will be hard to emulate.
We will never see his like again. As one journalist wrote “Clough stood for something beyond sectional interests. He cared for football which is why those of us who love it still care for him.”
Which brings us back to today’s players and administrators, how many care passionately for the sport they play and administer? How many are simply counting the dollars or preparing for the next move in their career? How many do we see simply jump from sporting organisation to sporting organisation?
Clearly, as Brad Hogg has stated there is no clear leadership within Cricket Australia. So will the Board step up and show the leadership the sport needs at this time and act appropriately? Only time will tell.
Hopefully other sports leaders will watch with interest and learn from the mistakes made and then will adapt their leadership accordingly.
Unfortunately sport is not the only area of life in which people who earn vast amounts of money, and/or a large public profile, think they can abide by a different moral code than the rest of us. Worse still is our societies indulgence of that behaviour.