TRANSKRIP 🔗
WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.420 --> 00:00:03.089
I'm John Batchelor in New England in a misty evening
2
00:00:03.169 --> 00:00:06.830
in the middle of autumn. Jeremy Zakis, my good colleague
3
00:00:06.889 --> 00:00:11.179
for many decades, is in New South Wales where it's mid-spring.
4
00:00:12.220 --> 00:00:15.279
And that means cricket time all around the world. Jeremy's
5
00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:19.379
taught me what I can learn about cricket without ever
6
00:00:19.420 --> 00:00:22.019
having played the game or even stood on a cricket
7
00:00:22.089 --> 00:00:24.730
pitch or even been to a cricket match, but I
8
00:00:24.769 --> 00:00:27.629
can watch it on TV. What I have picked up
9
00:00:27.730 --> 00:00:30.649
is the lore of crickets from Jeremy, especially the part
10
00:00:31.449 --> 00:00:35.100
where they get out of line. I've seen heavy drinking.
11
00:00:35.740 --> 00:00:38.340
I've seen a game that is called into question about
12
00:00:38.380 --> 00:00:42.920
being fixed. I've heard of a gunshot in Canada. And
13
00:00:42.979 --> 00:00:46.689
I've seen captains come and go, disgraced, sent down, and
14
00:00:46.729 --> 00:00:50.670
then getting revived with a big offer because they're sporty.
15
00:00:51.409 --> 00:00:54.490
But at the same time, I've not catalogued the many
16
00:00:54.549 --> 00:00:57.350
ways you can step out of line in cricket. And
17
00:00:57.369 --> 00:01:00.009
the new story that Jeremy brings to my attention is
18
00:01:00.049 --> 00:01:02.850
good old-fashioned cheating. Jeremy, what happened and how do they
19
00:01:02.869 --> 00:01:03.140
do it?
20
00:01:04.650 --> 00:01:06.930
Well, John, this one's a little bit of an ingenious one,
21
00:01:06.969 --> 00:01:09.510
I guess you could say. This was in North Yorkshire
22
00:01:09.530 --> 00:01:13.379
at a club called Club Saltburn. And what the cheat
23
00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:15.819
actually was, and this is where it's brilliant, is it
24
00:01:15.879 --> 00:01:19.299
capitalises on the fact that umpires in cricket don't just
25
00:01:19.340 --> 00:01:22.379
rely on their sight to determine whether a ball is
26
00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:25.400
out or whether a player has, say, hit the ball
27
00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:27.719
with their bat and it's being caught behind or it's
28
00:01:28.109 --> 00:01:31.349
basically gone through and hit the wicket. What they rely
29
00:01:31.450 --> 00:01:33.890
on is the audio. So they actually rely on being
30
00:01:33.950 --> 00:01:37.549
able to hear when the ball hits the bat. And
31
00:01:37.709 --> 00:01:40.640
what this cheat was, and it is brilliantly simple, is
32
00:01:40.750 --> 00:01:43.640
that there was a player there in Club Saltburn called
33
00:01:43.700 --> 00:01:47.079
Brian Devine who, when he saw that the ball was
34
00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:52.099
coming very close to the batsman's bat, he would actually click.
35
00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:55.319
He would click his fingers to replicate the sound of
36
00:01:55.379 -->
Load full transcript
00:01:58.319
the ball hitting the bat, which meant that the catcher
37
00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:01.069
behind the wicket, all they had to do was catch
38
00:02:01.109 --> 00:02:04.549
the ball, and then, of course, Brian Devine would pretend
39
00:02:04.650 --> 00:02:07.590
that the player was out and the umpire thinking that
40
00:02:07.609 --> 00:02:10.289
he'd actually just heard the ball hit the bat and
41
00:02:10.310 --> 00:02:13.909
be caught behind would then get that batsman out. And
42
00:02:14.090 --> 00:02:16.949
the thing is with this, it happened so subtly in
43
00:02:17.009 --> 00:02:19.710
that how Brian was clicking that it was not detectable
44
00:02:19.750 --> 00:02:22.750
by an umpire or many of the players on the field.
45
00:02:22.870 --> 00:02:24.460
It was just so naturally done.
46
00:02:25.090 --> 00:02:28.219
But what came unstuck was the fact that with a
47
00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:30.680
lot of camera angles that are in county cricket there
48
00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:33.659
in England, it actually shows if you look very closely
49
00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:37.020
that the finger movement that Brian was doing just as
50
00:02:37.080 --> 00:02:40.229
the ball was passing the batsman. So eventually when the
51
00:02:40.289 --> 00:02:43.490
investigation got down to looking at footage, it became very
52
00:02:43.530 --> 00:02:44.569
clear what Brian was doing.
53
00:02:44.689 --> 00:02:46.930
And he had done it on so many occasions.
54
00:02:47.330 --> 00:02:50.409
It really is almost difficult to count how many. But
55
00:02:50.460 --> 00:02:52.080
there are a lot of batsmen out there in the
56
00:02:52.120 --> 00:02:54.719
English county cricket that should never have been out. The
57
00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:57.759
club Saltburn probably should not have actually won so many
58
00:02:57.800 --> 00:03:00.270
games they had. except for the fact that Brian had
59
00:03:00.349 --> 00:03:03.469
cheated so much. And, John, cheating in cricket, too, as
60
00:03:03.509 --> 00:03:07.500
you know, it's a very gentleman's game. It's a game
61
00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:10.219
held in high esteem in much of society, especially England.
62
00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:11.840
So Brian, for.
63
00:03:11.639 --> 00:03:14.879
His trouble, is now banned from playing any cricket in
64
00:03:15.449 --> 00:03:18.650
England for a whole two years. So he will not
65
00:03:18.689 --> 00:03:20.789
be stepping out on the field for another two years.
66
00:03:21.310 --> 00:03:24.030
And the club itself was also fined £ 300, which is
67
00:03:24.050 --> 00:03:31.009
around about 584 US dollars. So honestly, John, it's brilliantly simple.
68
00:03:31.069 --> 00:03:34.449
But look, honestly, if you cheat in cricket, especially nowadays
69
00:03:34.490 --> 00:03:38.330
with most matches being televised, you will get caught.
70
00:03:39.590 --> 00:03:42.539
I like it. It's ingenious. I wonder if he's being
71
00:03:42.620 --> 00:03:43.409
asked to teach it.
72
00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:49.020
I have no doubt that there are many younger players there,
73
00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:51.539
and especially county cricket, and probably some over on this
74
00:03:51.580 --> 00:03:53.759
side of the pond as well here in Australia who
75
00:03:54.009 --> 00:03:56.770
looking a little bit closely because it is very, very
76
00:03:56.849 --> 00:03:59.349
hard to discern. If you have a look at the
77
00:04:00.009 --> 00:04:02.979
video online of how he did this cheating, you'd listen
78
00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:05.460
to a normal snick of the ball on the bat
79
00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:08.419
and then listen to how he was clicking. The sound
80
00:04:08.460 --> 00:04:11.719
is identical. There's really no way to see it. And unfortunately,
81
00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:14.430
I think now because so much footage of how he
82
00:04:14.449 --> 00:04:16.910
did it has been released, anyone out there who wants
83
00:04:16.949 --> 00:04:19.550
to try this exact same trick now is going to
84
00:04:19.610 --> 00:04:21.790
figure out a better way to hide the hand movements
85
00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:24.600
but also make it sound more like it's coming from
86
00:04:25.019 --> 00:04:27.959
actually the wicket because that was another thing with how
87
00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:31.660
the investigation exposed it. Some of the audio detected the
88
00:04:31.740 --> 00:04:34.610
audio was coming from the fielding position, not the actual
89
00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:37.129
wicket or the bat itself. So that was a bit
90
00:04:37.170 --> 00:04:39.810
of a problem. But you know what? Anyone who's devious
91
00:04:39.850 --> 00:04:41.769
enough out there will probably figure a way to actually
92
00:04:41.810 --> 00:04:43.769
throw the sound of the click to make it sound
93
00:04:44.050 --> 00:04:44.970
even more legitimate.
94
00:04:45.230 --> 00:04:48.629
What other cheating methods have you heard of over the years, Jeremy?
95
00:04:49.939 --> 00:04:53.069
Well, really it comes down to two categories. It's either one,
96
00:04:53.170 --> 00:04:56.410
tampering with the ball, or two, tampering with the state
97
00:04:56.449 --> 00:04:58.769
of play. So the first one is probably the most
98
00:04:58.910 --> 00:05:02.329
known one, is tampering with the ball, which Australia, we
99
00:05:02.370 --> 00:05:06.379
got caught out in 2018 in South Africa where a
100
00:05:06.420 --> 00:05:08.959
piece of sandpaper was actually hidden in the pocket of
101
00:05:09.019 --> 00:05:11.660
one of our fielders and they were actually sanding down
102
00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:14.079
one side of the ball so that then when certain
103
00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:17.810
bowlers who had certain technical expertise came up, that rough
104
00:05:18.129 --> 00:05:20.750
side of the ball would allow them to do some very,
105
00:05:20.829 --> 00:05:24.620
very tricky bowls. Basically, it allowed the ball to swing
106
00:05:24.660 --> 00:05:27.399
and bounce and speed up in ways that is
not
107
00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:30.259
predictable by the batsmen because they're expecting the ball to
108
00:05:30.300 --> 00:05:33.370
be normal. So that's one way. And that one really
109
00:05:33.410 --> 00:05:36.069
was found out by the sheer fact, again, the television
110
00:05:36.110 --> 00:05:38.870
camera happened to catch the fielder with a piece of
111
00:05:38.889 --> 00:05:41.110
sandpaper rubbing it in between overs.
112
00:05:41.209 --> 00:05:43.529
So that's been used the world around.
113
00:05:43.790 --> 00:05:47.009
Unfortunately, Australia, we got caught out and really didn't return
114
00:05:47.029 --> 00:05:49.610
to South Africa until just recently because of it. And
115
00:05:49.689 --> 00:05:51.970
it is one way that can devastate, I guess you
116
00:05:51.990 --> 00:05:55.069
could say, a batting lineup very quickly. But the second one,
117
00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:59.060
the state of play, what typically happens is if a
118
00:05:59.100 --> 00:06:01.639
team wants to throw a game, that's when this one
119
00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:05.079
comes into effect. So basically... Either the batters will let
120
00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:08.839
really good balls go past or the fielders will consistently
121
00:06:08.920 --> 00:06:11.899
drop the ball or the bowlers will just follow the
122
00:06:11.939 --> 00:06:14.279
ball so slowly that it's very easy to hit. And
123
00:06:14.339 --> 00:06:16.850
it's done so typically to throw a game because of
124
00:06:16.939 --> 00:06:19.949
either a points advantage or some kind of draw advantage
125
00:06:19.970 --> 00:06:21.990
where you want to play a certain team in the
126
00:06:22.089 --> 00:06:23.990
future and you don't want to win the game because
127
00:06:24.009 --> 00:06:26.709
it means you'll play a better team and effectively make
128
00:06:26.750 --> 00:06:29.050
it harder for you to go through to the championships.
129
00:06:29.750 --> 00:06:32.089
or something to do with sports betting as well, of course,
130
00:06:32.329 --> 00:06:36.000
so wagering. And that's kind of been seen a few times.
131
00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:36.420
In the past.
132
00:06:37.060 --> 00:06:40.079
There is a few competitions out, or there's at least
133
00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:42.670
one investigation in Canada because of this, where a game
134
00:06:42.689 --> 00:06:43.910
was potentially thrown.
135
00:06:44.250 --> 00:06:45.509
Earlier this year in New Zealand.
136
00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:47.959
But that one is a little bit harder if you
137
00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:51.670
get down to, say, the international cricket five-day test because
138
00:06:52.050 --> 00:06:55.329
to consistently play bad over five days without.
139
00:06:55.129 --> 00:06:57.129
Being noticed, it is almost impossible.
140
00:06:57.209 --> 00:06:59.339
So typically in a T20 game where it's a very
141
00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:02.620
short game, that's where state of play kind of cheating
142
00:07:02.759 --> 00:07:04.819
can really have its due.
143
00:07:04.920 --> 00:07:07.189
But at the same time, too, A lot of teams as.
144
00:07:07.149 --> 00:07:10.149
Well have found that taking advantage of no time limits
145
00:07:10.189 --> 00:07:13.009
between overs, they, you know, as they have to swap
146
00:07:13.089 --> 00:07:16.129
ends between overs, between every six balls, basically in a
147
00:07:16.149 --> 00:07:18.350
cricket game, you do have to swap ends. The fielding
148
00:07:18.389 --> 00:07:20.920
has to change sides and all of that. Some teams
149
00:07:20.939 --> 00:07:24.040
were taking an extremely long amount of time in between
150
00:07:24.100 --> 00:07:26.680
overs to do that. So much so it would throw
151
00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:29.279
the pattern off of the other team. And while technically
152
00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:32.019
not cheating and technically it could be seen as a strategy,
153
00:07:32.620 --> 00:07:35.360
you could really sandbag the speed of the game. and
154
00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:38.019
make it difficult for the other side to really get,
155
00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:39.720
I guess you could say, their momentum.
156
00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:42.889
So, John, many, many ways to cheat that we know of.
157
00:07:43.050 --> 00:07:45.689
And honestly, there's probably some out there we don't even
158
00:07:45.730 --> 00:07:48.069
know of because no one's been caught yet. But unfortunately,
159
00:07:48.149 --> 00:07:50.550
for a game that's considered the gentleman's game, there is
160
00:07:50.589 --> 00:07:52.980
a lot of ways to really bring it down into
161
00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:54.220
the doldrums, I guess you could say.
162
00:07:54.420 --> 00:08:01.060
Jeremy Zakis, in wintry sometimes, springtime other times, New South Wales,
163
00:08:01.879 --> 00:08:07.860
Southern Hemisphere... I'm John Batchelor in definite autumn mist, northern hemisphere,
164
00:08:08.680 --> 00:08:13.490
and we'll rejoin the El Nino hunt in a few
165
00:08:13.509 --> 00:08:15.329
days' time. Thank you for listening.