The extended fracas over ball-tampering by the Australian Cricket Team in South Africa continues, with howls of disapproval and much hand-wringing from all quarters. From the Prime Minister down to the fellow being interviewed in the street, there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth. If we lived in Biblical times, there would be a furious rending of garments and ashing of foreheads. It's completely over the top and somewhat ridiculous, but consider why it might be so.

Australians pride themselves on sporting prowess and playing the game in the right spirit. Cricket exemplifies this and in fact is often cited as the measure of fairness itself. "It's just not cricket!" is an idiom that means something is unfair, unjust and not right. You can argue the point whether this is just nonsense, for in what sense is sledging a fair or just part of the sacred game? It's not, and is in fact just another kind of cheating to get an advantage. But the myth persists and informs much discourse on nationality and sport.

Football (soccer), for example, has often been targetted as "not Australian" because there is too much simulation, taking a dive, in the parlance. Cricket is frequently upheld as a contrast, a gentleman's game in which one's honour is as important as winning, participation and etiquette are merely sides of the same coin. "Play up! play up! and play the game!" is the line from a Newbolt poem that lionizes these attributes and perhaps at one time, this was the case. But gamesmanship ( a polite way of saying cheating) has crept in over the decades and we are where we are now.

But does any of this really matter? In the scheme of things, does the disgrace of a few cricketers count alongside the human-made problems of the planet - global warming, war, inequality, violence against women and others, even, a cure for the common cold? Or does getting our cricketing house in order prepare us somehow for these other challenges. Are the lessons learned in "playing the game" a training ground for tackling all the other stuff?

Alright, maybe that is a little absurd. But we have to learn good values somewhere. And we need to get wisdom too, but how and where? Can sporting contests teach us the basics? My decade spent playing soccer undoubtedly helped me to be a better person, but need it do so? Were there other choices?