Leadership lessons from Australia’s cheating cricketers

Andrew Hill

Steve Smith, the disgraced captain of Australia’s cricket team, made it sound like a run-of-the-mill meeting of the sales team, discussing a plan to wrest market share from a rival company: “We spoke about it and thought it was a possible way of getting an advantage.”
What Smith and an undefined “leadership group” were in fact debating was how best to beat South Africa. Rather than playing within the rules and spirit of the game, they opted for ball-tampering — altering the surface of the ball so it moves in the air in unexpected ways. As a cowed Smith put it: “Obviously it didn’t work.”