NFR Smith and Warner banned

[toshes mate]

I don't honestly believe it matters a hoot which nation was involved this time.   We would be fools to believe the problem is limited to the times when people have been caught red handed.  The problem is always in how you act to stop something happening and whether or not you pay attention to the things that make it appropriate for sports people to feel it is okay to cheat as long as you do not get caught doing it.   I am not talking about the odd moments of madness when people do stupid things that are clearly out of character for it is the repetition of a problem that defines its common place presence in a sport. 

We know from this current incident how hard it is to spot ball tampering.  Michael Vaughan said it is hard to believe the sandpaper/tape routine could have been dreamt up over a lunchtime meet and IMHO that is the most disturbing thing about the whole subject.  Just how many 'dry' runs are there before a deception is 'perfected' and introduced into a teams arsenal of weapons and just how many people are in on the secret?  If any sports person wants to deceive themselves and others then let them join the Magic Circle where the whole business is about how honest trickery can be made to appear in the name of entertainment and show business but for goodness sake ban them from sport permanently.   

[Woolly Mammoth]

As the late great Tommy Cooper use to say.   " Pick a card, pick a card, but not that one ".

[toshes mate]

I have a very fond memory of Tommy Cooper. 

I was once travelling on the tube (c1955) with the family on a trip to the West End when Tommy sat down opposite us complete with his evening paper.  We all knew who it was instantly and so he opened the paper so it completely obscured our view, sometimes lowering it and peering over the top and sometime raising it and looking underneath.  We were all laughing when he folded the newspaper up and started making funny faces at people around him.  He then opened the newspaper again and we could see he had imperceptibly made a hole in its middle so he could look through it.  I thought my sides were going to burst.  As we all got up to get off the train he said to us 'This newspaper is so full of holes it thinks it's a Swiss cheese.'   

His live stage acts were something else too, but he was an excellent magician underneath all the comedy touches.  A truly great performer.

[Woolly Mammoth]

I have a very fond memory of Tommy Cooper. 

I was once travelling on the tube (c1955) with the family on a trip to the West End when Tommy sat down opposite us complete with his evening paper.  We all knew who it was instantly and so he opened the paper so it completely obscured our view, sometimes lowering it and peering over the top and sometime raising it and looking underneath.  We were all laughing when he folded the newspaper up and started making funny faces at people around him.  He then opened the newspaper again and we could see he had imperceptibly made a hole in its middle so he could look through it.  I thought my sides were going to burst.  As we all got up to get off the train he said to us 'This newspaper is so full of holes it thinks it's a Swiss cheese.'   

His live stage acts were something else too, but he was an excellent magician underneath all the comedy touches.  A truly great performer.

Absolutely, your tube trip must have been hilarious, he gave me many hours of laughter for years with his stage act.