But these teams had counterpoints within the team and within the country to keep some form of perspective. Bradman was an icon, Harvey an example of Australian post war youth and Miller a war hero who batted and bowled with abandon. But Miller also refused to bowl bouncers to English veterans, figuring that if they could survive the Germans, they didn't deserve to die at the hands of a leather projectile. Lillee's genius and comebacks from back surgery along with the audacity of Thompson, Walters and Hookes played to the youth of the time and a public disenfranchised by the staid cricket of the late '60s.
But Rod Marsh, despite being so petty and bullying of Kim Hughes in his later career, carried the traditions of the game from behind the stumps, from calling Derek Randall back to the wicket in the Centenary Test and arguing with Greg Chappell not to bowl the underarm ball. In a precursor of the current global outrage at Australias behavior, the West Indies never forget the sledging and racist undertones of the '75/'76 series and used it as motivation for the juggernaut that ensued. Although somewhat self-absorbed, there is no question Bob Simpson assisted AB's captaincy and maintained calm in a previously emotional dressing room, particularly on subcontinental tours.
But the wheel arguably turned a full rotation in the Steve Waugh era. Once the West Indies were finally conquered and they and England fell away, the Australian team, Warne excepted, suddenly morphed into a self-proclaimed, living, breathing demonstration of Australian manhood. Pilgrimages to Anzac Cove, wearing Australian caps to Wimbledon were complemented by the "mental disintegration" psychology that reached its zenith in South Africa.
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Matt Hayden's hypocrisy as an on-field Christian blessing himself post-century (an act never replicated at Shield level), while developing renown as the worst sledger in the team, earned him few friends in the cricketing world. McGrath's explosion against Sarwan that almost came to blows was without question self-inflicted. As Warner found out with DeKock, what level of arrogance warrants being aggrieved when someone relentlessly abused crosses your self-applied "line" in response? But Gilchrist's sportsmanlike conduct on and off field, Waughs grit, Warne's ridiculous talent and larrikinism and the sheer belief of the team so exemplified in the 99 World Cup buffered a lot of what was an ugly era from a behavioral perspective.
And then came "monkey gate" – the trigger that meant all bets were off when it came to on field conduct. By the 2000s, the Indians and Sri Lankans were no longer backing down from a verbal joust. But they'd not refined their approach and Harbhajan's racist taunt of Symonds warranted the objection of even the hard-nosed Australians. But Cricket Australia responded in a sporting appeasement of India that Neville Chamberlain would have been proud of. Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting never forgot it, and as Steve Smith's two captains, he came into a culture that arguably embodied a philosophy of trust no-one, win at all costs.
Smith is a victim in this saga, albeit a complicit one. Smith had no Miller, no Marsh, no Gilchrist. Cricket Australia employed Brad Haddin as fielding coach, someone who vilified the New Zealand “nice-guy” approach Darren Lehmann says we should now emulate. And Lehmann himself, in a departure from the Simpson-model, beseeched the Australian crowd to send Stuart Broad home in tears.
To see Nathan Lyon descend from a wide eyed Test debutant to a media taunter pre-the last Ashes series was an ominous, sad sign. Bancroft and Smith's embarrassing press conference at the 'Gabba and Warner's lack of grace upon making his century on Boxing Day (after being reprieved by the third umpire the ball previous), were major turn offs in the Australian publics mind. And then there were the two giant hands on the presentation dais post the Fifth Test. The hubris and gracelessness had extended to Cricket Australia. The die was cast.
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The punishments have far outweighed the offence but that's not the point. Paul Keating once referenced Australian voters waiting with baseball bats for the chance to vote out his government and the same principle applied to the Australian cricket team. Their conduct in this, and the recent Ashes series, was as embarrassing and excessive as the execution and defence of the ball tampering was dumb. They are being punished for a catalogue of conduct breaches, but the buck cannot stop at the three players and Lehmann. Sutherland's position is untenable. If he plays the card that commercial success is his purview, then the Magellan sponsorship cancellation and the failure to achieve their initial TV right's expectations should be held up as failings in this regard.
Warner: Even he has a defence.
As for Warner, a batsman of rare talent, but a man who took advantage of a young player keen to please. As graceless a cricketer to ever represent Australia has now taken down himself, his captain, his team and his country. A “kaboom” of a statistic. But even he has a defence. The Australian team and corporate hierarchy were more than happy for him to play the pit bull and continue a philosophy honed over many years. The media references the calming influence his wife has had on him in recent years. Who from Cricket Australia ever tried to calm him?
Alex McFarlane is a Fairfax Media contributor.
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