Broad's a cheat!
The current Ashes cricket contest has been bitterly fought and at times acrimonious. Tensions have risen between the two teams and supporters.
At the centre of this conflict has been English cricketer Stuart Broad. Broad has received widespread disapproval from mainly Australian cricket supporters and has been labelled by many as a ‘cheat’.
The incident occurred earlier in the year when batting in the first test in England. At a crucial point in the test he edged a ball which was caught and was given not out. Broad refused to walk and since Australia had exhausted their appeals Broad remained. He scored a further 28 runs and England won by 14. Yet to many Broad’s behaviour was tantamount to ‘cheating’. Many Australian supporters and reporters labelled him a cheat (some examples are here, here and here) and Broad received many boos from the Australian crowds in the current series.
Technically Broad hasn’t ‘cheated’, he remained firmly within the rules of the game as he accepted the umpires decision. The umpires decision was clearly incorrect, but for Broad not to walk is not actually cheating. He hasn’t necessarily obeyed the spirit of the game, but he hasn’t cheated. Indeed the issue of ‘walking’ contrary to the umpires decision opens up many tricky ethical issues.
Yet the thing that I want to highlight is how in this situation Australian supporters criticise Broad’s ethical credibility. The English are ethically suspect because ‘Broad’s a cheat’. I find it fascinating that somehow Australian supporters bring ethical arguments into discussion on which team should win the Ashes.
However the criticism of Broad as a cheat by Australian supporters and media overlooks a fairly glaring problem - by this very same standard Australian players are also cheats.
I recall a crucial moment in a test match in 2008 between Australia and India. Australia were in a precarious position and Andrew Symonds nicked one when on 30. He was given not out and Symonds didn’t walk. Symonds went on to make 162 and Australia won the test.
Yet I don’t recall Australian supporters labelling and lambasting Symonds as a cheat! It’s interesting that Australians so enthusiastically (and almost vitriolically) label Englishman Broad a cheat, yet not an Australian who was guilty of exactly the same misdemeanour.
This highlights an interesting phenomena I’ve observed with sporting teams and supporters. This is that we tend to assume that our team possesses not just sporting superiority, but also ethical superiority to our opponents and rivals.
I support the English Premier League team Everton. Now Everton are archrivals of local neighbours Liverpool. As I observe my fellow supporters write and comment on the game and on opposition several fellow Everton supporters make ethical and character criticisms of Liverpool supporters, players or the club. Things like, ‘they’re Liverpool supporters, what do you expect’; ‘no respect, typical of a kopite’ 'an Everton fan would never do that' and so on.
Somehow, like the Stuart Broad incident, we feel that our supporters and our team are ethically superior. It seems that this ethical superiority comes from an ‘in-group’ mentality - our group is better than yours, in all facets of life.
This in-group/out-group hostility can lead to deep divisions between rival groups and even in some cases to violence.
Many criticise religion for fostering this same in-group hostility. But the Christian message says that none of us should. The Christian message says that there are no in-groups. It says that we’re all ultimately the same. The message of the Bible is slightly depressing, but realistic nonetheless, in that we all fail ethically. This is ‘sin’. Romans 3 says, ‘There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’.
The Christian message declares that no one group can claim ethical superiority - we are all just as bad as each other. Sin is the great equaliser.
There is good news though. Because just as our ethical failure is universal, so is the offer of repair. The good news of the Christian message is that all each of us can receive forgiveness and have new life with God because Jesus died for our sins and was raised to new life. This message is not reserved for a special, elite group, it’s available to all. All can receive forgiveness from God - even Liverpool supporters and English cricketers!
