Reputation lessons from the story everyone has been talking about

For those unfamiliar with the term, it refers to the furore surrounding the match-deciding dismissal of an England batsman in the cricket series with Australia. 

Was Jonny Bairstow out?

There have been endless conversations about the technical issues surrounding the controversial dismissal and whether it was fair play.

And we will leave those for others to discuss. The answer will probably depend on who you support.

What we know is that the fallout from this flashpoint was huge.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he “simply wouldn't want to win a game in the manner Australia did.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took a more humorous approach, presenting Mr Sunak with a picture of the wicket at a NATO summit.

Anthony Albanese and Rishi Sunak caught up at the NATO summit to discuss AUKUS and the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement but made sure they had the time to poke fun at each other, with the PM presenting a picture of Jonny Bairstow’s infamous dismissal.https://t.co/PUZJRVY0v1

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) July 11, 2023

Spectators have been merciless, with boos and chants of “Same old Aussies, always cheating” ringing out from the stands.

And Australia captain Pat Cummins has faced endless questions from the media about the incident.

“Are you disappointed your integrity has been called into question?”

“Was the spirit of cricket upheld?”

“Would you do the same thing again?”

Uncomfortable questions, but ones he seems to have answered with a smile most of the time.

So, why are we writing about this in our blog?

Well, it is a reminder for organisations and comms professionals about how difficult it is to rebuild trust after a crisis media management incident.

And how more recent incidents can be framed against what happened in the past.

The problem for Australia is that it is something of a repeat offender when it comes to breaking the rules and spirit of cricket.

Only a few years ago, it was at the centre of a ball-tampering scandal that plunged the nation’s cricketers into full crisis media management mode. And that was featured in one of our crisis communication blogs.

‘Sandpaper-gate’ as it became known (and you know it is bad when the description of the event ends in ‘gate’), saw players banned and its star stripped of the captaincy. And there were teary press conferences where those involved accepted responsibility.

Longer ago, Australia was at the centre of an underarm bowling scandal that was perceived as being against the spirit of fair play – and resulted in the rules of the game being changed.

And it has long been associated with sledging, which essentially involves insulting a batter to put them off.

‘Sandpaper-gate’ was a real crisis for cricket and Australia. And the scars from that incident are not fully healed.

This latest incident was different. There is a big difference between cheating and breaking the ‘spirit of the game’, a mythical moral code people struggle to define.

But because trust had not fully been rebuilt, ‘stumping gate’ ripped open old scars.

And that is why from a reputation perspective, it would have been better for Australia to withdraw its appeal and let Bairstow continue his innings. His form suggests they probably would have quickly got him out and won the game anyway.

I may sound biased and risk standing accused of being a Whinging Pom. But what an opportunity it would have been for Australian cricket to show it had changed and been rehabilitated.

It would have been a brave move in the heat of a battle. But leaders often need to make big calls under pressure to protect and enhance their organisation’s reputation.

Let’s say Cummins was caught up in the emotion of the game. He could have been more reflective about the incident when he spoke to the media.

Remember that question about whether he would do the same again? The reply was a simple “Yep”.

Asked whether this was an opportunity missed to do the right thing, with ‘sandpaper-gate’ in mind, he said: “We’ve all moved on. As I said the other day, the team did nothing wrong, so we’re all comfortable.”

Only not everyone has moved on. Not fully. The fallout from that crisis is still there in the background. Trust is yet to be fully restored.

Rebuilding trust after a crisis media management incident, as we explored during a masterclass for members of The Media Team Academy, typically involves short and long-term fixes.

And this latest incident has invariably set that process back.

Compare this incident to how York Cricket Club dealt with a similar incident.

It trended on social media this weekend after footage showed a batter being run out while celebrating his teammate’s half-century.

The club faced a barrage of criticism, and chairman Nigel Durham released a statement, calling the incident “deeply regrettable”.

He said: “In all walks of life mistakes are made and this was definitely one, for which we sincerely apologise. York Cricket Club has a long tradition of playing hard, competitive cricket, to win, but not at all costs.”

And he added: “The captain, the whole team, and club, are mortified by the error of judgement that was made. They will learn from it and it will never happen again.”

‘We are mortified’: Cricket Club apologises after controversial run out goes viral https://t.co/LAASBB1ZTM

— Indy Sport (@IndySport) July 11, 2023

There is a big difference between club and international cricket. And the stakes are much lower.

But it shows how this controversial incident could have been better handled.

Australia was, of course, not alone in being caught up in controversy from this match.

Footage showed Australian players being abused and confronted by members of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) as they made their way back to the changing room a short time after the dismissal.

You know it’s bad when the long room turns into millwall away #Ashes23 pic.twitter.com/gdaKCj8s54

— Josh Halliday (@JoshHalliday) July 2, 2023

And the MCC has shown a lot of CARE in its response. It is an acronym we use during our crisis communication training. It stands for Compassion Action Reassurance and Examples.

In particular, the Action and Reassurance boxes were ticked, with three members suspended and the promise of further action to come.

“The members shown on camera have brought shame on the MCC,” chair Bruce Carnegie-Brown said.

“Their actions hinder our efforts to promote the positive things our club does to promote and celebrate the game.”

And he added: “I cannot downplay the impact that the behaviour of a few members has had on the perception of our club.”

There are still two games of this series to go.

All this controversy is just not cricket.

Media First are media and communications training specialists with more than 35 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers. 

Click here to find out more about our media training and crisis communication training.