Steve Smith would feel that he has. And he’d be right. But he’d be wrong about the timing.
The weekend’s decision to cheat and the epic fallout that’s followed is not the time he lost it. That’s just when he and Australian cricket felt the consequences of what has been lost.
What was it that went missing?
Their purpose as representatives of Australian values at play. Their responsibility in defining success as when those values are upheld; even in the toughest competitive moments.
Believe me, I understand that we as a nation have a mixed set of values. But the values of the baggy green linked to pre-meditated cheating…? We know that is not a purpose-led choice.
If this Captain and his team understood their purpose and values connected roles in our folklore, Smith’s decision couldn’t have been possible.
Could. Not. Have. Been. Possible.
The truth is, it has happened. So, how did their purpose become lost? How did this values gap emerge?
Experience informs me to look at the system when such gaps emerge.
If this team’s leadership group thinks nothing of pro-actively promoting a culture where winning by deceit is more important than bravely and creatively playing the game, it informs me they are operating in a system that rewards winning by deceit.
What then is Cricket Australia’s role in the creation of a system that has, over time, obviously motivated their best and brightest to behave in this way? For example, in what way has “winning” during the current negotiations of cricket’s broadcasting rights become an implied requirement of the team – even if unintentionally? How may Cricket Australia’s promotion of “every player for him/herself” as a negotiation tactic in the recent pay dispute have influenced this cheating to occur?
No. This is not something lost in a brain explosion or “poor choice” over the weekend. It’s not just about individual players or leaders. This is a symptom of the system and no-one in this system can sit back, judge and say they’re clean. All in the system itself must take responsibility in the same way that Steve Smith and David Warner must take responsibility and look at the ways in which they have contributed to this breakdown of purpose and values in Australian cricket. To not do so will cost far more than the team ever hoped to gain by cheating their way to winning this Test.
If they do this work, the repair will come. Trust can be rebuilt by actions. They just need to look to the example of Adam Gilchrist to know this is true.
He showed us that we love and respect brave losers. We love seeing our fellow Australians throw everything at their challenge, even if they come up short, and then calling it for what it is. It’s at the heart of our national identity. Remember, we didn’t win at Gallipoli either. Yet we love our Anzacs.
So, c’mon Cricket Australia. We all know what purpose looks like in our beloved national game. You can do it. But unless you do, well…it just isn’t cricket, is it.
