Sportswear company Skins takes out full-page ad in SMH calling for Cricket Australia to take action
In the wake if the cheating scandal engulfing Australia’s cricket team, sportswear company Skins has run a full-page ad, in the form of an open letter to Cricket Australia, on page seven of Fairfax’s Sydney Morning Herald.
The letter is penned by Jaimie Fuller, a sports governance campaigner and executive chairman of Skins, and calls on the board of Cricket Australia to be more transparent about the who, what and how of the ball-tampering incident “within a few days”.
My open letter to board of Cricket Australia, full page in tomorrow’s Sydney Morning Herald @smh pic.twitter.com/kdcurlzovn
— SKINS Chairman (@jaimiefuller) March 25, 2018
It’s time, Fuller argues, for the board to act.
“Cricket is such a part of our national psyche that it helps define us. It helps give us a sense of what is fair, and what is not; what is right and what is wrong,” the letter says.
“However, even though you are presiding over the sport, it doesn’t belong to you. You are the custodians of it.
“And now you must get your job right.”
The letter also alleges collusion and cover ups by the cricketing body.
“Ball tampering is wrong. It’s not in the rules. Collusion is wrong. Covrring-up is wrong… Please don’t repeat your other recent failrures of governance.
“You know what I mean, don’t you?” the letter says before alleging Cricket Australia is in “bed with” the England Cricket Board and the Board of Control for Cricket in India “in an attempt to grab the power, glory and 52% of the money in international cricket between the three of you, and leave the other 102-cricket-playing nations to scramble amongst themselves for the remaining 48%”.
The brand then puts Cricket Australia “on notice” and says those responsible should play no further part in the Test series.
“You need to tell us who’s behind this, who came up with the idea, who agreed to it, who knew about it. Not in a month or so, but in the next few days.”
No action, Fuller writes, will have wide-ranging implications.
“If you don’t [take action], it’s not just the Australian cricket team who is shamed. But it will be all of you. It will be cricket. And it will be all of us.
“It’s time to do the right thing. Right now.”
Ugh, should have got one of his copywriters to fix up the terrible LinkedIn habit of adding a paragraph break after each sentence. I stopped trying to read after the first few lines.
It’s
Really
Amateurish
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Jesus, this guy is a douchebag… Just have a look at how he writes, his twitter bio and his cover photo.
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Dear Jamie,
There are more important things in the world.
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Another case of a brand embarrassingly trying to capitalise on a publicity crisis!
When will these guys learn you just look like a fool trying to play the moral compass.
The team are getting rinsed from every angle as it is, so we don’t need a high and mighty brand re-hashing the same shit as every other journalist/ex-player/punter in the sporting world.
Let CA sort it out properly and if you don’t want to be associated with the team then pull your sponsorship.
You can’t just ban/fire 5 people mid way through a test match, an investigation needs to be held and those that have done the wrong thing be held accountable.
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Really – is that the extent of your contribution? Grammar? Jaimie Fuller should be applauded for this and CA should take note and seriously consider its actions…they have tarnished the game in pursuit of success and greed.
I have no affiliation with weither SKINS nor CA – I’m simply a concerned cricket coach, player, fan, customer and parent of young children who are scratching their heads about this terrible stain on the game.
If you get a chance see Malcom Speed’s interview on 730 last night on the ABC – http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/for.....lm/9589312 – very measured and sensible
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Brevity ain’t his strong point…. in an era where we write bullet point emails and 140 character tweets, this is a load of verbal diarrhea combined with a lackluster understanding of media. I question whether the core Skins target consumer is reading the actual paper edition of a weekday SMH…. or cares for this blatant self promotion of the ‘Chairman’ of Skins.
My builds:
– Not clear on the role of Skins here from a brand POV. How does this garbled letter align with the Skins brand positioning?
– What is the brand challenge that they are trying to address by paying for and running this dribble?
– Jamie – let your marketing team do the marketing, get off your high horse, and stick to being a Chairman.
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I scored the Third Test at 3-all.
That is, three ball-tamperers each team (I’m including Warner)… though I expect the Aussie count will rise.
I am a massive cricket fan, but we have to purge this malaise from all levels of Australian cricket no matter what the cost, no matter what the impact.
The only green shoots I can see are that Smith and Bancroft openly admitted their guilt, unlike other players on the field who have previously been found guilty of ball tampering.
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Those in glass houses. if you’re squeaky clean, then take the moral high ground. If not. Hmmmm
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