by ianp1970 » Sat Sep 24, 2016 5:56 pm
sussexpob wrote:Whether this is a convention or not, I would really like someone to explain to me how this is legal and how it is not match fixing? Middlesex had batted themselves into an untenable position. They had a paltry lead and were quickly running out of overs until Gale clearly walked up to the batsman to make a deal. At that point both captains basically agreed to take the most possible natural result out of the equation, and quite clearly Yorkshire placed two terrible bowlers at either end purposefully bowling to give Middlesex runs, and no doubt Middlesex had a target of runs or overs agreed to stop batting. How is this any different to any form of match fixing?
Regardless of fans, championships, and team success both captains and sides owe a debt to the wider sporting integrity and the notions of pure competition. For every Yorkshire fan that wanted to see a victory, there is a Somerset fan that lost out on a championship. So I dont accept that both sides were indebted to artificially find a result.
Could you imagine two managers coming together at 1-0 in a football game, with another result in the bag, and making an agreement that one team will score to equalize the game because it turned out both would make the champions league over a third team should the score remain a draw? Id love to see what would happen if that occurred. Pretty sure everyone involved would never see a pitch again, and would probably see a jail term.
So as I say.... id like an explanation. Why is this not match fixing and why has this been allowed to occur? As far as I see it, both teams should be DSQ'd and Somerset given the title.
Collusion can occur without agreement. Middlesex should have been batting more aggressively to win, a declaration should have been made naturally, and Yorkshire should have targetted that and tried to win. But agreeing on that target is 100% wrong, and I very much doubt its within the laws of the game, and is 100% not within the spirit of the game.
And last time I looked, the laws contain a rather huge clause about actions that are contrary to the spirit of the game being illegal.
West Germany 1-0 Austria 1982
Sweden 2-2 Denmark 2004
The first led to a change in the rules which were then exploited in the second.
Sports broadcasting media nut miscast as a hard-working family man. Or should that be the other way around?
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