BE SUPPORTIVE BUT BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY

I was born into a cricket playing family. I think I played my first game of cricket when I was seven or eight years old. I played it through school, where we won the New Zealand secondary school championships in the first year it was played.

I have followed cricket all my life although not as much in the last year or so as I have had other priorities but I still like to see what is going on in the international game and who is coming through and who is doing well.

By the way, if you are not that interested in cricket, this post might be a little boring for you. Apologies in advance.

Earlier today, I read this article about the confrontation between Cricket Australia, (the board governing the sport of cricket in Australia) and the players.

Basically there has been a standoff between the board and the players over how revenue should be shared. From my understanding, the international superstars have stood in solidarity with their first class team mates, who although paid quite well are on a fraction of what the international players get paid.

In this article we see the differing strategies of the players, most notably the captain and vice-captain of the Australian team.

One, Steve Smith has been quiet but firm, trying to cooperate with Cricket Australia while still supporting his fellow professionals. While David Warner has been, lets say, more vocal with his employers, hitting out against them both on social media and in the other traditional forms of media.

What does this have to do with anything?

I wonder if their attitudes and tactics has anything to do with:

     a. Their personalities

or

     b. Their respective educational backgrounds.

My answer to this is that it is difficult to know. I don't know these guys personally but from what I have seen on television and how they play the game, it doesn't surprise me how they have gone about it. Warner on the attack and Smith and bit more cautious. I'm not saying one is wrong and one is right, it is just how they have gone about it.

What I do know is that sometimes it is good to go on the attack. It is good to show your passion for something, to show your support.

You do have to pick your words carefully though as something said, especially on social media can be misinterpreted and that can have serious repercussions for the years to come.

The written word is very strange like that. Sometimes you think your joke or sarcastic comment will get a lot of laughs but then people misread it and suddenly you are in it up to your neck.

Another thing is that people these days are lot more thin-skinned than before. People seem to get offended a lot more easily than before. I have no idea why that is, it just seems to be the norm. Who knows?

All I can say to those people is: