Australia is in mourning. As one commentator observed today, the nation's mood is that normally associated with a state funeral or death of national hero, the announcement of a war or some national disaster.
The disaster is the admission yesterday by two of the country's sports idols - Mark Waugh and Shane Warne - that they had dealings with an illegal bookmaker from India during the 1994 tour to Sri Lanka.
Television stations interrupted scheduled programs to announce the news and televise the media conference. Australia's Prime Minister John Howard issued a statement. He said: ``I would imagine that given the great passion Australians have for cricket, there's an intense feeling of disappointment about the whole issue. Australians love their cricket and anything that looks as though it's knocking cricket off is pedestal is something that's going to deeply disturb Australians.''
The achievements of Australia's cricketers have been vital in bringing people together and in sustaining national pride. So the admission by two modern heroes of Australian cricket that they took a bookmaker's money is seen by some commentators on this case as evidence of greed.
``The fact is'' says Mark Wallace writing in today's Canberra Times, ``that they (Mark Waugh and Shane Warne) have tainted the great game of cricket, tainted the baggy green cap and broken the hearts of a million kids.''
The influential quality newspaper, The Age, stated in its editorial today: ``This scandal serves as a reminder to professional sports people that money can all too easily become the sole justification for any act, that the desire to maximise earnings in the relatively short period when players are 'hot' can sometimes blind them to wider considerations of right and wrong. When our cricketers wear the baggy green cap they are representing Australia - literally. Our players and administrators must now, through their candour and their future behaviour, show that they understand all the ramifications of that.''
Also in today's Age, cricket commentator Peter McFarline writes: ``In the spirit of cricket, the acceptance of money for information, mundane or otherwise, is a crime against that spirit. It is also a step towards the ultimate bastardy - match fixing.''